Hello Friends in sajha..
I have been in big trouble and i came to know about sajha through a friend and i am in need of serious help from you guys.
I am a PHD student  in US and my F1 visa had expired a year ago and my Mom was in serious health condition so i had to go back to Nepal in any condition and i came to Kathmandu about a week ago and i applied to US embassy, KTM for my F1 renewal. I had all the required documents and since i am in PHD program, i was fully funded from the University. I have been in good status and never been out of status and never filed any immigrant visas while in United States. so i was thinking i will not have any problem but the consular asked me so many questions and i told him everything and after 5 mins of interview he returned my file saying, you've an intention to stay in United States !! I felt like i have falledn from the sky. I am in the Phd program, and i'll be done in 2 years now and now i am stuck here in Ktm.
Please guys what can i do now ? I need a serious help..I feel like dying now. I am frustrated with my life right now. At one side, my mom is sick, the other side i can't go back to US and continue my PHD ?
I would appreciate if any of you guys who had faced similar condition give me some suggestion..

Thank you.

i think you need to reapply. ask your professor or dean to write a letter to US Embassy in Nepal. it is very weird that they denied renewal of F1 visa. i can understand denial of H1B or any other visa but denial of F1 (somebody's years of effort and on top of that, a phd program) sounds like something went wrong somewhere. may be they want to milk some more money outta you.

i guess you have no other choice other than to reapply with few more strong support.

goodluck.

Sorry to hear that,
I think, you better inform your international student adviser  and your professor. Request them to write a letter saying that you are a good student through out the all semesters and they need students like you in their university.  Apply again.. and tell them that you want to complete the PhD program and return back to Nepal.

Also I wish your mom will recover soon.

Good Luck

I went to Nepal this winter and renewed my visa. they did not ask many things so I find it kinda weird that they gave u hard time. anyway it doesn't mean end of the world. you should definitely reapply (no doubt about that). contact your university international office and seek for their suggestions, contact your PI and ask if he can send a letter or something. And I think the important part is to go through your documents and minimize things that shows your intention of staying in US, and put more documents that shows your tie in Nepal. I would remove things like proof of personal property in US and stuff like that, and put documents of your property in Nepal and other documents of relationship and others to show that u have some financial and personal tie in Nepal so you will come back here. don't hesitate to state that you have no intention of staying in US after graduation (its not like they'll come find u after your graduation).

I hope that helps.. good luck man.  

Right now, your mom needs you. Just wait until she gets well and then reapply, your job will be done. 

guy_tensed, you're giving us some conflicting messages..you said that your F-1 status expired a year ago and you're also saying that you've never been outta status?

If you've never been out of status then you should be ok. Just reapply.

Don't worry. Just reapply. They want 100 dollars more from you.

Sorry to hear that guy_tensed...In my opinion, reapply again and get supporting letters from ur department and write a personal letter/statement saying that you will come back to nepal after u complete ur phd...By looking at your situation, you should be renewed Visa. The US embassy is giving Visas to people who don't really qualify but if you're already working towards ur PHD and half done, i dont' understand why they would stop you !

And Bidroh, You don't need to have Valid Visa in United States to be in Status. Expiring F1 visa doesn't mean you're out of status. If you're not sure about anything, you shouldn't reply to the sincere threads..and the SAJHA has the same intetion. If you're not sure about the Answer do not reply.

Thank you Racheeta,

"Little and/or Incomplete Knowledge is dangerous".

Did you include valide I-20? Valid I-20 refects your status in US. Your expired F1 vis does not matter as long as your I-20 is valid.

One more important thing is to include ALL your I-20s, and your OPT cards if you have them. that will also show them that you have not been out of status.
good luck

I think, there's also an option to petition when your visa is not granted if you don't want to reapply (repay the fee).

simple, don't be afraid, and don't be desperate, go simple, show your simple attitude and just focus on your education, if you are fully funded and  you don't need any money from nepal, then don't show any document about financial, one of my friend just walked with his I-20 and his degree got visa in 2 min with congratulation, he was in the same situation (fully funded). Remember don't mention any kind of financial goal, focus on intellectual only.   

Dont get panic. First thing is to contact your supervisor in USA, get some strong recommendation letter. And then re-apply. There is no reason to deny you a visa with the condition you mentioned. 

 guy,

Thanks a lot for replying to my thread and i truly appreciate for all the comments and suggestions.
I am gonna reapply again today and hopefully i'll get the interview date for next week or so. I've contacted my international advisor and my advisor to support me with some documents and they've agreed to do so. My program advisor is even ready to fax immediate documents to Consular mentioning that they should not just stop continuing student who's in good standing @ the University and play with my Life..He's ready to write a letter to the particular Consular who interviewed me that day and he has asked me if i can get the Full name of the Consular as well..

Thank you all for the strong words. I feel strong now. I'll keep you updated next week after i appear in the interview. Let's see what happens.

 guy, i would go a lil easy on the "playing with life" part, and taking any particular name. A general letter should suffice, i think. best of luck.

Sorry if i was unclear about the 'playing with life" part. Those are not my words. Those words came out from my Advisor's Email.. My advisor sounded angry in his email reply to me and he goes like this "It is unfair and unethical to stop a good student from continuing study without any proper reason and play with your life when you're about to complete your study, I am ready to write a letter to the consular as well as embassy on this matter. Please provide me the details of the person who interviewed you and the fax number".

Sorry about the confusion.

good luck and our pray is with you.

 apologies from me too. i got it the first time that it was sent to you by the concerned (advisor), however, coming off too strong in a letter might cause a little friction, which was my concern. but i believe, your advisor knows it a lot better than me :)