United States Of America

Traditions & Culture:Though the USA culture is of Western origin it is also influenced by a multicultural spirit like the Native American, African, Asian, Pacific Island, and Latin American. Over a period of time the USA has developed its own social and cultural characteristics. Due to this large scale migration of people from diverse countries to the USA, they have an ethnically and racially diverse culture.

Food:Being one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world, it has developed its distinct flavors. American cuisine is greatly influenced by Europeans and native Americans. The Hamburger and Apple Pie are the most popular. Not only can we find any food from any culture, but we also find a fusion of their culinary traditions.

Safety: the USA is one of the most friendly and safe countries with high standards of living. Universities are focused on maintaining round the clock security for their students. The USA universities are also ranked as among the best in the world for implementing effective safety measures on campus.

Welfare:

Health: The American healthcare system is one of the best in the world. Most of the campuses in the USA offer general medicals facilities and also have resident doctors. The cost of on-campus medicals services is not that high. All the students need to have an approved Health Insurance during their study period in the US.

Transport

Air

Due to its vast area, people usually travel by air within States as well as to other states. All the cities are well connected by Airplane.

Rail

Rail network was one of the most widely used once and was an important part of the nation’s transport network. All the cities and towns are well connected by rails and students are issued travel cards which come with many attractive discounts.

Bus

Busses are the most common mode of transport when traveling within the city or to the neighboring city if they have no provision for self-transport like cars. All the smaller and bigger towns are well connected by Busses. Busses are also used for intracity transport. Students can avail good discounts on their bus passes.

Metro

The USA has one of the largest metro systems in the world. At this time it can be found in 25 of the USA 50 states. The subway systems provide 24/7 service to all. This is one of the most widely used ways to transport in bigger cities like Chicago, NJ, NY, and Philadelphia.

Car

This is one of the most common ways and the most widely used mode of transport in the US. With the large road network, traveling by car has become one of the best modes of transport with in the city as well as other places.

Visa Process

The USA student visa is known as the F1 visa (for Long Term studies) or M1/J1 visa(vocations studies or exchange programs).

Before applying for a visa, the student needs to have an I-20 from a recognized US university and an active SEVIS number.

The student visa is issued over a face of face interview at the USA counselor office in their country.

Any student with a valid I-20 can schedule their interview at their local counselor’s office. The visa process typically takes 2 days with the Biometric appointment on the 1st day and the main visa interview on the 2nd day. Most of the decisions are taken on the spot, however, few cases which need further information can take anything between 1 week to 1 month.

Although the F1 study permit is given for 5 years the student will need to maintain their SEVIS status to keep their visa valid.