# M1 Visa..urgent advice appreciated please



## jazzelle (Jan 6, 2009)

Well,

I have just been given some exciting news. 

I'm currently in Florida on a tourist (visa waiver) and due to return to the UK on 23rd January 09.

BUT I have just been given the news that I have been accepted onto a horse training course here in FL which starts on 15th Jan and goes on for three months!

How long can I stay here in the US on my visa waiver (I arrived in the US on 27th December 08)?

I understand that I am eligible to apply for an M1 visa... but do I have to return home just to present the paperwork at the US Embassy in the UK...or can I present them while I am still here in the US?

Any advice, (or reccommendations for a visa lawyer) would be much appreciated.

j


*****Just been looking on internet....would a J visa be appropriate??********


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## Shocx (Jan 10, 2009)

congrats, dont think you need to go back to uk to submit ur papers, pliz can u refer to the US immigration website am sure i have come across with an explanation similar to ur sitution. dont think u need an immigration lawyer if ur papers are all in place. u will be wasting ur moola.


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## Shocx (Jan 10, 2009)

jazzelle said:


> Well,
> 
> I have just been given some exciting news.
> 
> ...


congrats, dont think you need to go back to uk to submit ur papers, pliz can u refer to the US immigration website am sure i have come across with an explanation similar to ur sitution. dont think u need an immigration lawyer if ur papers are all in place. u will be wasting ur moola.


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## mrees007 (Jan 8, 2009)

jazzelle said:


> Well,
> 
> I have just been given some exciting news.
> 
> ...



jazzelle - Did you go out there with the intention of looking for a job or course, or where you on holiday?


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## jazzelle (Jan 6, 2009)

mrees007 said:


> jazzelle - Did you go out there with the intention of looking for a job or course, or where you on holiday?


I had heard about the course before I came to the US but didn't think I had a snowball's chance of being accepted. 

I came out to Fl to visit my best freind and she convinced me to apply...and much to my surprise I _was_ accepted!

Of course its a chicken/egg situation.. there would have been no point in making a visa application before I applied for the course, but now they want me I have to get the visa...and it looks like I will have to go all the way back to the UK to submit my visa application. 

I just don't think its worth overstaying my visa waiver by 2 weeks in case I get found out and then banned from returning to the US.


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## Fatbrit (May 8, 2008)

A VWP cannot be renewed. You will have to leave the country and re-enter. Also note that you will NOT be issued a new I-94W if you leave and re-enter with a short trip to Mexico, Canada or the Caribbean islands.


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## Fatbrit (May 8, 2008)

jazzelle said:


> *****Just been looking on internet....would a J visa be appropriate??********


Probably an M.


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

I see no way for you to legally participate in the course. Visa Waiver is for vacation only and not even a miracle will produce a visa by January 15 Please do not disregard the potential and longterm issues you may have to face unless you are here with the propper visa.


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## Fatbrit (May 8, 2008)

twostep said:


> I see no way for you to legally participate in the course. Visa Waiver is for vacation only and not even a miracle will produce a visa by January 15 Please do not disregard the potential and longterm issues you may have to face unless you are here with the propper visa.


I agree. I agree.


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## Tiffani (Dec 4, 2007)

It's also a violation of the VWP to apply to change status whilst in the US on one so definitely leave the country and apply for whatever visa is most appropriate (as Fatbrit says likely an M) at an Embassy or consulate elsewhere.


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## synthia (Apr 18, 2007)

And again, 'elsewhere' does not include Canada, Mexico, or the Caribbean.


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## synthia (Apr 18, 2007)

Contact the school and explain the visa situation and ask if there is a later class you can enroll in.


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## jazzelle (Jan 6, 2009)

Thankyou so much for all you advice! I think I will have to speak to the course organisers and see if there is a later opportunity. 

Its a bit of a chicken/egg situation as I doubt I could apply for an M1 visa until I knew I was approved for the course, but now it will take ages to get the paperwork sorted. 

I just daren't risk getting baned from the US, especially as I want to live out here permanently one day.

Many thanks,

J x


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

Thank you for displaying common sense!


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