Managing the F-1 Visas for Foreign High Schoolers

Many school administrators are familiar with the workings of the traditional high school cultural exchange program, for which international students use the J-1 visa. But as high school counselor Karl Bryan of Wisconsin’s Janesville School District points out, bringing in students using the F-1 study visa is a whole different ballgame.

Under the terms of the F-1 visa, schools must do a lot of the work that independent exchange programs do in the J-1 realm. Here’s a sampling of the tasks:

» RECRUITING STUDENTS. “For public schools, this is something completely new, and it takes a lot of time,” Bryan says. While some schools deal with outside agencies to help them find students, many make direct connections with schools across the world, which can be fascinating, but also expensive and time-consuming.

» HANDLING ADMISSIONS. Each school has to consider what its academic admissions requirements will be and establish a process and timeline for evaluating potential recruits.

» LANGUAGE ASSESSMENT. How proficient in English should incoming students be? Each school must decide what level of English it will require and how it will deal with students with only moderate proficiency.

» VERIFYING AND MONITORING HOST FAMILIES. While outside agencies do this for J-1s, Bryan says, schools are responsible for doing so for F-1s.

» CARRYING CAPACITY. A key determination for a school is how many international students its community will be comfortable with and how many committed host families can be found. Bryan stresses early and sustained consultation with the school board, the community and school staff.

» STUDENT SUPPORT. Do teenagers traveling across the globe into a brand-new culture sometimes need help adjusting? “Boy howdy!” answers Bryan, who counsels both local and international students. “All the stuff I do as a counselor for domestic students, when I do it for international students … multiply it four or five times.”

» COLLEGE COUNSELING. Most F-1 students intend to apply to American colleges and universities, but Bryan says they typically need considerable advising to put them on the right track. “For a lot of them,” he says, “their background knowledge on U.S. higher education is almost non-existent or what they think they know is wrong.”

» ACCULTURATION. Schools should plan to bring the students in well ahead of the start of the school year for extensive orientation, including how to approach new people, make friends and navigate social norms in America.

» PAPERWORK. The school or district sponsoring the students’ F-1 visas is responsible for whatever certifications and other paperwork the federal government requires.


— PAUL RIEDE