So I’m a 25yo college guy in VA and my boyfriend currently lives in Taiwan, he’s from there and he’s 22 almost 23. He has a degree in arts design from a school in Taiwan, but he really wants to go to school in the US to study music, preferably in VA so he can be close to me. He wants to go to a community college, but they require international students to prove they have enough money to support them for 3 years! Community college is usually 2 years so it’s weird they require proof of money for 3 years, which would be close to $70,000. Safe to say he doesn’t have that kind of money. They do allow sponsors for the students, but what kinds of sponsors are there for international students. Does that mean an individual person sponsors them or a group/organization? Aren’t there student exchange programs? But those don’t last long do they? I just need some help here because I do want him to go to school here in the US. I would appreciate any help you could give me.
✅ Answers
Answerer 1
In order for him to qualify for a student visa, he will have to prove that he has the funds to pay his tuition and support himself.
Usually, a sponsor is someone/something that has the funds and agrees to back up the student. For example, a lot of students from the Middle East come to the US to study things needed in their home country, such as engineering, and they are sponsored by their country’s government, who pays their tuition and etc. That’s what they mean by a sponsor.
There are student exchange programs, but he’d 1) need to be a full time student in Taiwan in order to participate and 2) the max. length is normally one year.
One idea would be for him to look into applying for an immigrant visa to the US, rather than coming in as a student. This may or may not be a realistic option for him, but it’s worth looking into.
One idea might be for you to do a year abroad via an international student exchange, and do that year in Taiwan, while you and he are trying to figure the rest of this out.