f-1 student visa from Nepal
The US process turns on one short interview at the Kathmandu embassy — and on convincing an officer who is required by law to assume you intend to stay. Here is the whole sequence, and an honest account of the odds.
Visa: F-1, for academic study
Critically: the F-1 is strictly a non-immigrant visa — you must demonstrate intent to return to Nepal
Interviews: in-person interviews are mandatory for nearly all F-1 applicants since 1 October 2025
Fees: USD 350 SEVIS I-901 + USD 185 MRV, plus a possible USD 250 integrity fee
Admission and the Form I-20
From an SEVP-certified school. Get the MoEST NOC and season your finances at this stage — not later.
Pay the SEVIS I-901 fee
USD 350 at FMJfee.com, using the SEVIS ID printed on your I-20. Keep the receipt.
Complete the DS-160
Online, including your social-media identifiers from the past five years. Print the confirmation barcode page.
Pay the MRV fee and book the interview
USD 185, then schedule at the US Embassy in Kathmandu.
Set your social profiles to public
Vetting was expanded through 2025. Profiles are reviewed for consistency with what you said on your application.
Attend the interview
At Maharajgunj, Kathmandu. Often only a few minutes, focused on academic intent, funding credibility, and your ties to Nepal.
Decision, then travel
Often same-day. Administrative processing under 221(g) can add days or weeks. At the port of entry, CBP admits you in F-1 status.
This is the defining feature of the US student visa, and it is unlike anything in the Australian, UK or Canadian systems.
Under Section 214(b) the consular officer must presume you are an intending immigrant until you prove otherwise. The burden is entirely on you.
You are not proving you are a good student. You are rebutting a presumption that you intend to immigrate. That means a credible study plan, funding that matches your I-20, and genuine ties to Nepal — and it means your answers, your DS-160 and your online presence must all tell the same story. Inconsistency between those three is a common trigger.
It is worth naming the tension honestly: many students do hope to work in the US afterwards, and OPT exists precisely for that. The resolution is not to invent a story — it is that your current intent must genuinely be to study and then return, and your application should be truthful and coherent on those terms.
We would like to give you a refusal rate. We are not going to invent one.
The published refusal rate for Nepali F-1 applicants: not published
Non-official sources conflict wildly — some cite an ~81% refusal rate, others a ~60–75% approval rate. Those cannot both be true, and neither comes from an official table.
What can be said with confidence: the risk is clearly significant, 214(b) is overwhelmingly the reason given, and the causes are consistent across every source — weak intent to return, unexplained finances, and inconsistencies. Those are the things to work on. A precise percentage would not change any of them.
Weak intent to return — overwhelmingly the reason given; refusals are issued under 214(b)
Weak or unexplained finances — sudden deposits, or funds that do not match the figure on your I-20
Social-media content — posts implying an intention to settle or work illegally; profiles are reviewed against your application
Unclear study or career rationale — a course choice that does not follow from your background or lead anywhere you can explain
Two measures announced for Nepal in January 2026 have caused a lot of alarm among Nepali students. Neither of them is the student visa. The distinction matters, so here it is precisely.
Immigrant (green-card) visas: issuance was paused for several countries including Nepal, effective 21 January 2026. This is the green-card route, NOT the student visa.
B1/B2 visitor visas: Nepali applicants found otherwise eligible must post a bond of up to USD 15,000, from 21 January 2026. This is the visitor visa, NOT the student visa.
F-1 student visas: continue to be issued to Nepali nationals. Nepal is not on the F/M/J suspension or travel-ban lists.
So F-1 visas continue to be issued to Nepali nationals, and Nepal is not on the F/M/J suspension or travel-ban lists. But both measures reflect the US treating Nepal as a high-overstay-risk country — and that tone feeds directly into the 214(b) scrutiny you will face at the interview. Read them as context, not as a closed door.
A DHS rule proposed on 28 August 2025 would replace open-ended 'duration of status' with fixed admission periods of up to 4 years, requiring extensions for longer programmes and for STEM students using full OPT. Not finalised as of early 2026.
The MoEST Foreign Study Approval Letter: online at noc.moest.gov.np, NPR 2,000, issued in ~1–5 working days, valid 6 months
Your funding evidence must match the figure on your I-20, and it must look like money that has been there — not money that arrived last week. Season your accounts months ahead.