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The three basics every F1 student must have before the interview
Before you even think about appearing for your visa interview, three documents need to be in place: your I-20, your SEVIS registration, and your DS-160 form. Every year I see students get rejected — or turned away at the consulate — because one of these three basics has an error or is missing entirely. Let me walk you through what each one is and why it matters.
The I-20: your single most important document
Everything in the F1 journey begins with the I-20. Once a US university accepts you, you can request them to issue your I-20 — it is the official confirmation of your admission. At the visa interview, the officer will ask for your passport and your I-20. Of all the documents you bring, the I-20 is the one the visa officer will definitely look at.
Here is something many students do not realise: just because the university issues the I-20 does not mean it is accurate. Universities do make mistakes. The moment you receive your I-20, check it carefully. In particular, verify:
— Your name (it must match your passport exactly)
— Your nationality
— Your course details
— Your funding details
If anything is wrong, contact your university proactively. They will correct it and issue a new I-20.
Can you have more than one I-20?
Yes — and often it makes sense to. In a perfect world, you would receive one I-20 from your dream university and use that for everything. In reality, universities have very different timelines for issuing I-20s, and delays are common. Since you need the I-20 to start your visa appointment booking, you cannot afford to wait indefinitely.
If you are comfortable with two of the universities you have been admitted to, it is worth requesting an I-20 from both so you have a backup.
Two things to keep in mind if you go this route:
1. Each I-20 costs money. You will be paying a fee to each university, so there is a financial cost to holding multiple I-20s.
2. You must declare all of them at the visa interview. When the officer asks how many admits you have, you must name every university you have taken an I-20 from. You cannot hide it.
Overall, if you are uncertain about timelines, requesting more than one I-20 is a sensible safeguard.
SEVIS: the registration every student must complete
Your SEVIS ID is issued to every student who will enter the US, and you will find it printed at the top of your I-20. If you have more than one I-20, each will carry a different SEVIS ID — make sure you use the correct one, meaning the one for the university you are actually going to.
Alongside the SEVIS ID, there is a mandatory SEVIS fee you must pay before your visa interview. Every year, at least one or two students arrive at their interview without having paid it — and they are sent home to pay it and return. Do not let this happen to you. Either pay the SEVIS fee as soon as your admission is confirmed, or set a reminder well in advance of your interview date.
A few important points about the SEVIS fee:
— The SEVIS fee is not the same as the US visa fee. These are two completely separate payments, paid on two completely different portals. The US visa fee is what you pay to book your appointment. The SEVIS fee registers you as a student.
— To pay the SEVIS fee, search for 'SEVIS fee payment' and go to fmjfee.com. Click 'Pay I-901 Fee' and complete the payment there.
— The SEVIS fee is valid for 12 months. If you defer your admission or change universities, you do not need to pay again — you just need to transfer the fee. To transfer, go to the support section of the same portal and email them explaining that you need a SEVIS fee transfer. Note that this process takes approximately five to six working days, so plan accordingly.
The DS-160: the form that drives your entire interview
The DS-160 is the document the visa officer will have in front of them during your interview. The US visa process is not document-heavy — officers rarely check physical paperwork — but the DS-160 form is the exception. They will look at it and ask you questions directly from it.
Spend serious time filling it, reviewing it, and getting it checked before you submit. One small error — in your sponsorship details, work history, or the reason for a past refusal — can create problems at the interview window that are hard to walk back from.
A note on the visa portal: CGI no longer exists
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Book a Mock InterviewI still see many students referring to the 'CGI portal' — that portal no longer exists. The US Embassy in India moved to a new portal called US Visa Scheduling. This is the portal you need to use.
To book an appointment in this portal, you need three things:
— Your SEVIS ID
— Your passport number
— Your DS-160 confirmation number
Once you have those three numbers, you can pay the visa fee and book your slot.
The eight-step process from I-20 to visa interview
Here is the complete sequence I recommend following. If you do these steps in order, you will not miss anything:
1. Get your I-20
2. Fill your DS-160 form
3. Create your visa portal account
4. Pay the US visa fee
5. Pay your SEVIS fee
6. Book your visa appointment
7. Attend biometrics
8. Attend the visa interview
One thing to note: Step 5 (SEVIS fee) is slightly flexible — you only need it paid before the interview itself, not before booking. That means you can pay it later if needed. But if you push it back, please set a reminder. As I mentioned, forgetting the SEVIS fee is one of the most common and easily avoidable mistakes I see.
How to change your I-20, SEVIS, or DS-160 details after you have started the process
This is the question I get most often, and there is a lot of confusion around it. The answer depends entirely on whether your appointment has been booked yet.
Scenario 1: Your appointment is not yet booked
If you have not yet reached Step 6, you have a lot of flexibility. You can change your I-20, your SEVIS details, and your DS-160 — even if you have already created the visa portal and paid the visa fee.
Here is how:
If you have created the portal but have not paid the visa fee yet — simply delete the application. On the left side of the portal, you will see 'Manage Applications' or an option to 'Close and Start New Application.' Click that, close the current application, and start a fresh one with the correct SEVIS ID and I-20 details. If your DS-160 also needs updating, fill a new DS-160 form and use that new confirmation number in your fresh application.
If you have created the portal and already paid the visa fee — the process is similar, but with one key step. Close the old application, start a new one with the correct I-20 and DS-160 details, and when you reach the fee section, do not pay again. You will see an option to 'Claim Payment' — use that to carry over the fee you have already paid. Then proceed to book your appointment.
In both cases, as long as your appointment is not booked, you can fix everything without paying any additional fee.
Scenario 2: Your appointment is already booked
Once your appointment is booked, things become more complicated. You can no longer simply update your SEVIS ID or DS-160 number from within the existing booking. The only option is to cancel the appointment, start the entire application again with the correct details, claim your old payment, and re-book.
Given how uncertain slot availability can be, this is obviously not ideal. But if you genuinely need to change to a different university, it is the only path forward.
One important exception: the DS-160 form itself is more flexible than everything else. If your I-20 and SEVIS details are correct but you realise there are other errors in your DS-160 — perhaps in your sponsorship section, your work history, or how you described a past visa refusal — you can fill a new DS-160 form up until your biometrics appointment. Bring both the old DS-160 and the new one to biometrics and ask them to update the record.
So to summarise: university details and SEVIS ID cannot be changed after booking without cancelling the appointment. Other DS-160 details can be corrected right up until biometrics.
When can you expect F1 visa slots to open for Fall 2024?
I know many of you are anxiously watching for slots. Based on last year's trends and whatever communication the embassy has put out, my expectation is that slots will be released somewhere between mid-May and end of May, with a similar bulk opening pattern to what we saw last year.
That said, do not wait for slots before you start preparing. Use this time to get your I-20 confirmed, fill and review your DS-160 carefully, create your visa portal account, and pay your visa fee so you are ready the moment slots open.
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