student visas for the USA

[paris]

hi all,
i would like to come to the usa to study mechanics for about 6 months, as i would very much like to spend time in the USA.
are a lot of visas given out for students? another way of putting it, is it easy to get a student visa?

do I have to get the place at the college first, then apply for the visa? i wonder if the US gov's attitude is more like 'why can't you study mechanics in England?'

to complicate things i'm not actually in england, i'm in the Caribbean, so would i have to return to england to get the visa in person? or maybe my parents could pick it up for me then send it. perhaps also i could go through the US embassy in Mexico for the visa, so i could pick it up before i arrive in the States.

thanks for any advice, paris

[Pahakissa]

Hi Paris,

Sorry I wish I knew the answer to your question.  If you are already in University why not go on the exchange programme.  I did that from the US.  As part of the programme I obtained my visa once I was accepted.  What happens is you pay home tuition and you exchange with a student in that country. 

If you wish to go independently first contact the Universities that you wish to apply to and speak to someone in the International Student Office and they can assist you with all your questions. 

Hope this helps. 

[Jewel]

Pahakissa's advice is good in both instances!

At this point, you'll find more Americans in the UK on this site, rather than the other way around, so we're really not up on our visas to the US!  However, I did find the following link for you, which might be of some help in giving you some visa information:

http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/types/types_1268.html

Best of luck, and I hope you share the information you find with us...we are interested, even if we're not able to help much at the moment!

[Lotus Freak]

I'm not much help but when you say you want to study Mechanics what exactly do you mean? Are you talking about working on cars?

[Pahakissa]

Lotus,

I could be wrong but I took it to mean Mechanical Engineering.

[Lotus Freak]

to complicate things i'm not actually in england, i'm in the Caribbean, so would i have to return to england to get the visa in person? or maybe my parents could pick it up for me then send it. perhaps also i could go through the US embassy in Mexico for the visa, so i could pick it up before i arrive in the States.

thanks for any advice, paris

I'm curious...you're not in England, but you are currently living in the Caribbean. Is that correct? I'd love to know which Caribbean island you're living in because my parents own a home on one of the islands and I spent a lot of holiday time island hopping. Maybe we can exchange stories of great places to visit

Lotus,

I could be wrong but I took it to mean Mechanical Engineering.

ahhh, well that certainly makes more sense than studying to be a mechanic