I-20 Information

Your Initial Form I-20: Important Things to Know


The Form I-20 is a document that says you are eligible for F-1 status. An I-20 is different from a visa, but you need both to enter the United States. The I-20 allows you to schedule a visa appointment at an embassy or consulate; at that point, the consular officer will decide if you

Once you accept your offer of admission and pay your enrollment deposit, you will be eligible for an I-20 from Truman State. We aim to process I-20s as quickly as possible after receipt of your enrollment deposit. However, due to a very high volume of accepted students, this may take 1-2 weeks. While we understand that many students face very long visa appointment wait times, please note that we are unable to expedite the issuance of an I-20 due to the high volume of requests we receive.

Please review your I-20 carefully to ensure there are no errors. If you notice that something is incorrect, please email intladmit@truman.edu so that we can make the necessary corrections. Before emailing, please make a note of the following:

Passport Name: the passport name section of the I-20 document will appear in all caps with no spaces, due to SEVIS regulations. These regulations require the name to be displayed in all caps and without spaces, following the format found in the Machine Readable Zone (MRZ) at the bottom of your passport.

Program Length: Truman State University uses standard program lengths for each degree level when creating I-20s. We hope that you will complete your degree on time, but some students experience unexpected delays. By employing a standard I-20 program length of 5 years for undergraduates and 3 years for graduates, we ensure all F-1 students have enough time to complete their degree without requiring an I-20 program extension.

Major Field: SEVIS requires universities to use a standard code, called a CIP code, for all major programs of study. The name of the major listed on your I-20 corresponds with these CIP codes. Because of this, the major name on your acceptance letter and on your Form I-20 may be slightly different. For example, if your major is Computer Science, your major field on your I-20 will read “Computer and Information Sciences, General”.

Personal & Family Funding: Although many students provide bank statements that show much more than the estimated total cost of attendance, our standard practice is to reflect only the amount required on the I-20. If you are worried about convincing the consular officer that you have sufficient funds to support your education in the US, we recommend that you be prepared to show your bank statements at your visa interview.

According to the Department of State, you generally cannot book a visa appointment without first having received an I-20 from the school you plan on attending. We cannot accommodate the processing of an I-20 due to an early embassy appointment even if you submit proof of this appointment. We recommend following DOS guidance and waiting until your I-20 is processed by our office before attempting to make a visa appointment. If you have managed to schedule a visa appointment before receiving your I-20, you will need to reschedule.

While we cannot accommodate late arrivals, we can defer your admission to the next term if needed. If you defer your admission, we will provide you with a new, updated I-20 that reflects the next term’s start dates.