Visa
Whenever you leave the States for home or vacation, you have to get a signature from the Dashew Center (UCLA International Student Center) on your I-20 and it is valid for 6 months only. It takes around 3 days to get your document signed by the staff in Dashew Center. Failure to get your I-20 signed might result in your student visa being cancelled and multiple offenses will put you in the blacklist. That will definitely delay your entrance into the States in the future. When you board any plane to the States, airline staff will also check your passport for a valid visa as airlines have the responsibility to bear all the costs of flying you back to the previous departure airport or your home country if your entry is rejected by the immigration. Violating this rule for more than 3 or 5 times might result in you being barred from entering the country in the future.
Passport
Visa applications are approved and issued by the US Embassy. You should apply to the embassy in your own country so for most of you it will be Embassy in Kuala Lumpur. Even though you live in Johor Bahru, you should go to the embassy in KL instead of the closer embassy in Singapore, unless you have been residing in Singapore for more than a year.
Most students do the application themselves. The embassy’s and university’s websites have all the instructions you need and you should read them very thoroughly. Visas are normally issued within one week, but in rare cases can take much longer, so applying in advance is highly advisable. Some of the students were asked to go back and come back again after their background checks (usually the guys) were cleared by Washington DC. The process can take up to several weeks or months so apply as soon as possible. Do not panic when you are asked to come back, more often it is just a standard procedure.
Before you can apply for a visa, you will need an I-20 form from UCLA after you submit your Statement of Intent to Register. Go to UCLA admission page and make sure you have submitted all the documents needed, they will not call or email you for them since they are very busy. I-20 has the tendency to arrive very late, so you will want to make sure you get it by early August. It takes about a month or more to get the I-20 ready and sent to your address. (1-1.5 weeks to reach your school and for the school to send it to Visa Services, 2 weeks for processing at Visa Service and another 2 weeks to reach your address). You can only proceed with the allocation and also payment once you have the I-20.
Bring all original documents needed (better more than less) to the embassy. They will ask some questions as a formality and the approval is decided on the spot unless they need to check your background. You are unlikely to get rejected as they know what is UCLA. The Chinese-American staff in the embassy (if he is still there) knows what UCLA is and Michael Jackson died there and all of them should know too.
If you are under a scholarship, ask your officers for advice and tips. But it is a good idea to learn how to do it yourself as you are on your own when you leave Malaysia.
Passport
You will probably also want to ensure that your passport remains
valid for the duration of your studies. Otherwise, when you get a new passport,
you will need to carry your expired passport as well, since your visa would
remain in it. For students, you can get a new passport for half price when you
tell the immigration office you are attending university and if your old
passport is still valid, you can extend the new passport validity for a maximum
of another 6 months, making it a total of 5.5 years.
With the Malaysian passport, you still need a visa to enter
Canada, Japan (some exception), China and some other Central American countries. You can visit Mexico
with your student visa but it is not advisable to go to Mexico unless you are
going with someone who is familiar with the country as murder is very common
especially along the border of the United States.
Some of us will travel when we make a stopover at North East
Asians countries or European countries and you might want to confirm whether
you will need a visa to enter these countries. In general, you do not need any
visa when you visit any North East Asian countries except China and Japan. For
Europe, you are exempted from visa requirements but mainly if the countries
belong to the Schengen Area (European Union, UK, Switzerland, Scandinavian
countries and the microstates).
Try to avoid transiting in Canada as you need a transit visa
which will cost hundreds of dollars. You should also ensure that your passport
validity is greater than six months. If not, you will be denied boarding any
planes and entry to most countries. A Canadian visa can only be obtained in the
embassy in Singapore and not Kuala Lumpur due to
cost cutting measures taken by the Canadian government so save yourself the hassle unless you want to travel to Canada.
If you lose your passport, you will have to reapply from the consulate in Los Angeles or embassy in Washington DC. You will be provided with a special passport or document for a one-way return trip. You will need to replace your I-94 too. The immigration office will not ask for I-94 sometimes and failure to submit it when you leave the country will result in your being questioned and detained when you return to the States. You will also need to reapply for a new passport and visa when you return to Malaysia. Save and lock your passport in your room.
