stamping after f1 cos

I have started my masters in fall 2015. I am currently on L2 visa. I have applied for F1 COS and got an approved letter - but the COS will be valid from August 2 2016.

I would want to go to my home country and get the stamping done. My university suggested me the following options and risks:

  1. Go to home country and apply as a fresh visa ( COS gets cancelled) .However the administrative processing for visa would take time ( worst being 3 months) and I would need to return to the university by september 1 or else I could be terminated.

  2. Continue staying in the country- I would want to go to my home country to finish the stamping as I have read the chances of rejection are more if i have 1-2 courses left.

Could you please advise

IMO, you can leave US, return on L-2 and still be on F-1 based on approved COS.

This is b/c COS was approved for a future date and as long as you return prior to that date, you would still be considered on F-1 from COS approval date.

Look-up Future dated COS or talk to an immigration lawyer. At times, school DSOs are not well versed with all the immigration rules.

Thank you for your reply Saurabh.
I wanted to go to my home country now and get the visa changed to F1. I was told by the school that since I already applied for COS F1 and got an approval from September - this would add concerns to VO and i would have to go for adminstrative processing which could take 3 months. Also I am supposed to return to college by september 1 to take the semester.

So the university suggests me to go in dec- so I would have the F1 COS started and I could go for stamping.
My concern for going in december is that I would be left with only 1 course and chances of rejection goes higher with less number of subjects.

My doubts are:

  1. Under what situations would a person generally get adminstrative processing?
    2.Would adminstrative processing take that long?
  1. Admin processing is initiated if consulate is not sure about issuing visa on the basis of submitted documents and need more time to review the case. This could involve checking w/ school about the course etc. There is no mold to know whether a particular case would end up in this or not.

  2. There is no SLA and it can take few weeks to several months. Also, there is no way to speed up the process.

Thanks Saurabh for your reply. I am quite clear about the adminitrative processing.
Now i have 2 options:

  1. go to my home country now and apply for a fresh F1 visa.
    2.go in december and get a stamping done ( because my COS would already be activated).I would have only 1 course left for this method.

Which option would you recommend and why?

Thanks a lot again for your help

Personally, I would prefer option 2. This is b/c COS would have been approved, which gives confidence that 1 round of vetting has been done. Although it doesn’t mean that stamping would be a sure success, it makes the case stronger.

Thanks a lot for your answer saurabh.

My worry is if i go in December… i would have only 1 course left - which typically doesnt make me a full time student?

Also rejection for stamping then would add more confusion as my L2 visa would expire in april 2017.Also I would have only 1 month time for all the procedures compared to now.

Do you still advise going in december? Please advise if my understanding is correct on the procedures?

If the school allows you to study on F-1 with just 1 course left, I don’t see why it would be an issue. Still, you can check w/ your DSO.

If you have concerns about Dec travel, then go now.