Immigration attorney Brad Bernstein offered five simple tips to students looking for visas for higher studies in the US at a time when the US authorities are weighing every visa request carefully and rejecting more than ever, citing various reasons. Bernstein said the applicants must show strong ties to their homecountry so that the officers are convinced that the applicants are intent on going back to their countries after their course is over in the US. The State Department is taking extra caution for cases where they have reasons to believe that an applicant wants to settle down in the US. All student visa applicants are presumed to have an immigrant intent, which means they would like to live in the US indefinitely. But given the present situation, an applicant must show a non-immigrant intent to the interview officer.

“So if they ask you, if your studies are over, do you plan on working, and you say ‘yes I would love to get a work visa and ultimately a Green Card’, your visa will be denied,” Bernstein advised. The second tips to remember, Bernstein added, is to ensure financial documents to prove that the applicant has enough funds to sail through student life in the US and the family back home can support themselves. “Make sure you speak English. You shouldn’t be picked up at the airport by your illegal alien brother and finally have a positive attitude,” the attorney said.The US is not issuing student visas to a number of countries, citing security reasons. Countries which are on the list of complete travel ban are not eligible for student visas now, unless there are some exceptions. People from Afghanistan, Burma, Burkina Faso, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Mali, Niger, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen – and to individuals traveling on any travel documents issued or endorsed by the Palestinian Authority, are not allowed to travel to the US on any visa, including student visa. Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Burundi, Cote D’Ivoire, Cuba, Dominica, Gabon, The Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Togo, Tonga, Venezuela, Zambia, and Zimbabwe were also added to this list.