Quite a few international students who come to the United States end up wanting to stay here. While the path to permanent residency and eventual naturalization is complex, it does exist.
The process would be unique to each individual aspiring citizen or resident. This article provides some background on the student visa and discusses some of the advantages it could provide potential future citizens.
The student visa program
Student visas, or F visas, are common in universities. International students apply to qualified schools, which, in turn, help the students apply for and secure visas to study in the USA.
This level of institutional support is similar to the type of support a person might get from a corporation they were coming to the United States to work for. Large universities typically have vast resources and dedicated staff members to help get these visas.
However, the student visa is not the end goal in the context of this discussion. Unfortunately, students might find that their university’s support does not extend to other areas of immigration law.
Moving forward from the F visa
Even without help from the school, university students might have various advantages when applying for other visas or for citizenship. For example, students have to be in the United States on campus for most of the year. This translates to an almost automatic satisfaction of the rule that they have to stay in the country continuously if they want to pursue naturalization.
The timelines can seem long when it comes to immigration processes. However, many people improve efficiency and conserve resources by accomplishing multiple goals at the same time. Pursuing a college degree and naturalized citizenship simultaneously would certainly qualify as an example.