Upon admission and receipt of all applicable documents, the Registrar will send you Form I-20 (Certification of Eligibility-Nonimmigrant (F-1) Student Status – For Academic and Language Students). Upon receipt, the following steps are required to apply for a US Student (F-1) visa from the US Embassy or Consular Office that issues visas:

• Do not make travel arrangements until you have received your US visa. There is no guarantee that you will receive a visa.


• Sign your name at the bottom of the I-20 form document, preferably in blue ink and provide the embassy with the ORIGINAL of both sheets of the I-20 form. The visa office will NOT accept reproduced copies of the form.


• Apply for your US visa as soon as you receive the I-20 form to ensure that you have provided sufficient time for processing by the Visa Office of the United States Embassy. Please be patient and positive in working with the visa officials, since these are difficult times for processing visas. www.usembassy.gov is the website for US embassy and consular office locations in each foreign country.


• Complete and submit to the visa office the electronic (http://evisaforms.state.gov) Form DS-156 (Select Nonimmigrant Visa Application Form) and Form DS-158 (Contact Information and Work History for Nonimmigrant Visa Applicant).


• Pay the fee (Student and Exchange Visitor Program/SEVIS) for processing the visa application. You can pay the fee through a Western Union office or through on-line payment over the internet (www.fmjfee.com/index.jhtml). You must present a receipt of this fee payment to the visa office (Form I-901).


• Provide two personal passport-type photos (2”x2”) along with the DS-156 and your valid passport.


• Provide the following documents, as required:
• a copy of the academic acceptance letter you received from the Union. If you are a member of a religious community, you may be required to provide a copy of the ecclesiastical sponsor form that was provided with your school application.
• a formal statement of intent to leave the United States upon completion of study.
• documented evidence of financial support while in the United States.
• transcripts or records of your educational background.
• official results of the TOEFL.
• Schedule a personal interview with the U.S. visa official

Doctor of Ministry (DMin) Students. If you are enrolled in our DMin program, the structure of our program, in connection with US visa regulations regarding extended absence, requires all of the above steps to be repeated for a new visa each year you return to the US to continue your course studies at the Union.