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Explore visasI-20 / DS-160Overview

M-1 / M-2 / M-3Vocational student

For full-time study at a vocational or other nonacademic institution (not language training) certified to enroll international students (M-1), for the student's spouse and children (M-2), and for Canadian and Mexican students who commute across a land border (M-3).

At a glance

How you apply
Get accepted by a school certified by the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) and receive its Form I-20, pay the I-901 fee for the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), then apply for an M-1 visa at a U.S. embassy or consulate. Already in the U.S. in another status? You may be able to change to M-1 by filing Form I-539 with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
Checked Oct 18, 2026[1]
How long you can stay
The time needed to finish the course on your Form I-20, plus any practical training after it, plus 30 days to depart, up to 1 year in total. You can apply to extend if compelling educational or medical reasons have delayed your course; all extensions together, including those granted for a reduced course load, a school transfer or reinstatement, are limited to 3 years from your original program start date, plus 30 days
Checked Oct 18, 2026[2,3]
Can family come
Yes: your spouse and minor children can come in M-2 status, each with their own Form I-20. M-2 family members may not work. Family members of M-3 border commuter students do not get M-2 status
Checked Oct 18, 2026[2,3]
Can you work
Not while you study. Practical training related to your course may be authorized only after you complete it; you apply on Form I-765 before your program end date, but no more than 90 days before it. You get 1 month for every 4 months of full-time study, up to 6 months in total, and may start only after USCIS issues you an Employment Authorization Document (EAD)
Checked Oct 18, 2026[2,4]
Main fees
Visa application fee $185 per person, plus any reciprocity (visa issuance) fee for your nationality, and the I-901 SEVIS fee for the M-1 or M-3 student. M-2 family members do not pay a separate SEVIS fee
Checked Oct 18, 2026[2,3,5]

What M-1 is

M-1 is the student visa for a full course of study at an established vocational or other recognized nonacademic institution in the U.S., other than a language training program; the F category is for academic students. M-2 is for the spouse and minor children of an M-1 student. M-3 is for nationals of Canada or Mexico who keep living in their home country and commute to a U.S. school, studying full or part time.[9,10,11]

Who qualifies

  • You have been accepted by a school certified by SEVP for M-1 students and hold a Form I-20 issued in your own name. The consular officer checks your SEVIS record, which is the definitive record of your student status and visa eligibility; the State Department's manual tells officers to issue the visa only if that record's status is "initial" or "active".[2,3]
  • You will pursue a full course of study that leads to a specific educational or vocational objective, at a school certified for foreign students. The regulation sets a separate minimum for community or junior colleges, postsecondary vocational or business schools, other vocational or nonacademic curricula and vocational high schools; in a vocational or other nonacademic curriculum, for example, a designated school official (DSO) must certify at least 18 clock hours of attendance a week if the course is mostly classroom instruction, or at least 22 if it is mostly shop or laboratory work. Online or distance classes that do not require your physical attendance for classes, exams or other parts integral to the class do not count toward it.[2]
  • You can show that funds or assurances of support are immediately available to pay all tuition and living costs for the entire period of your intended stay, with documentary evidence of financial support in the amount shown on your Form I-20.[2,3]
  • You have a residence abroad that you have no intention of abandoning, and you intend, and will be able, to leave the U.S. when your student status ends. You also need enough English to undertake the course; the State Department's manual says you must show English proficiency only if the school has made it a requirement for your course, and not if the school teaches the course in a language you are proficient in.[3,12]

Applying from abroad

  1. Get your Form I-20

    Apply to an SEVP-certified school. Once it accepts you, it issues a Form I-20, which is your proof of acceptance and lets you apply for a visa. If more than one school accepts you, the visa application is considered only on the I-20 of the school you will attend.[3]

  2. Pay the SEVIS fee and apply for the visa

    Pay the I-901 SEVIS fee before your visa interview at a U.S. embassy or consulate. The consular officer verifies the payment in SEVIS, and the State Department's manual says an applicant who cannot show the fee was paid should be refused under section 221(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). An initial M-1 visa is annotated with your SEVIS ID and the name of the school you will first attend.[3]

  3. Travel and enter

    You may be admitted up to 30 days before the start date of your course on the Form I-20; to arrive earlier, you would need a visa in a different classification. At the port of entry you present the entire Form I-20, signed by the DSO and by you. On a first entry you must intend to attend the school named on your visa, and the officer can refuse admission if you arrive with another school's I-20.[2,3]

How long you can stay and extensions

M-1 status is given for a fixed period: the time needed to complete the course on your Form I-20, plus practical training after the course, plus 30 days to depart, but no more than 1 year in total. If you fail to maintain a full course of study or otherwise fail to maintain status, you do not get the extra 30 days.[2,3]

If compelling educational or medical reasons have delayed your course, you can ask USCIS for an extension on Form I-539, filed at least 15 and no more than 60 days before the program end date on your I-20, together with your I-20 endorsed with the DSO's recommendation and a new program end date. You must be a bona fide nonimmigrant currently maintaining student status who is able to, and in good faith intends to, keep that status for the period of the extension; delays caused by academic probation or suspension do not qualify. Each extension runs for the time needed to finish plus 30 days, or 1 year, whichever is less, and all extensions together are limited to 3 years from your original program start date, plus 30 days; if you cannot finish within those 3 years, no extension can be granted.[2,3]

Your M-2 spouse and children who need an extension must be included in your application; they cannot be extended unless you are, or for longer than you are. USCIS notifies you of its decision on an extension, a school transfer or practical training, with the reasons if it denies the application, and you may not appeal that decision.[2]

Working: practical training only

Except for practical training, an M-1 student may not accept employment. Practical training may be authorized only after you complete your course, and your DSO must certify that the job is recommended for practical training, is related to your course of study and, to the DSO's information and belief, that comparable work is not available to you in the country of your foreign residence. You file Form I-765 before the program end date on your I-20 but no more than 90 days before it, and you may not start work until USCIS issues your EAD; you get 1 month for every 4 months of full-time study, up to 6 months in total.[2,3,13]Because M-1 students are admitted until a fixed date, the State Department's manual notes that you may also need to file Form I-539 to extend your M-1 status along with the I-765.

Spouse and children (M-2)

Your spouse and minor children may come with you or join you later in M-2 status, each with their own Form I-20; to join you later, they must show that you have been admitted and are, or within 30 days will be, enrolled in a full course of study or in approved practical training after your studies. M-2 family members may not work. An M-2 child may study full time in kindergarten through 12th grade; otherwise an M-2 spouse or child may take less than a full course of study at an SEVP-certified school, or avocational or recreational classes (even full time), and must change to F-1, M-1 or J-1 status before beginning a full course of study. Enrolling in any other study violates M-2 status.[2,3]

Fees

Form G-1055, edition 10/07/26, and 22 CFR 22.1 (eCFR current as of Oct. 1, 2026). Check the G-1055 for any reduced fee or exemption that fits your situation.
ItemAmountWhen it applies
Visa application fee (consulate)$185 per personEach M-1, M-2 or M-3 visa application
Visa issuance (reciprocity) feeReciprocal; varies by nationalityCharged where it applies to your nationality
I-901 SEVIS feeSet by a separate rule (8 CFR 214.13)M-1 and M-3 students, unless 8 CFR 214.13 exempts them; paid to DHS, before the visa interview if you apply abroad. M-2 family members do not pay a separate fee
Form I-539 (change to M-1 or M-2, extension, school transfer, reinstatement)$470 paper / $420 onlineFiled with USCIS inside the U.S.
Form I-765 (practical training after your course)$520 paper / $470 onlineWork authorization from USCIS
Form I-907 premium processing with an I-539 to change to M-1 or M-2$2,075Optional; in addition to the I-539 fee
Checked Oct 18, 2026[2,3,5,6,7]

Rules that are easy to miss

  • Changing schools: once six months have passed since you were first admitted as an M-1 student (or changed to M-1), you may not transfer unless circumstances beyond your control keep you from staying at the school you were first admitted to. To transfer, you must be a bona fide nonimmigrant who has been pursuing a full course of study at the school you were last authorized to attend, intends to do so at the new one and can afford it, and you apply to USCIS on Form I-539. If you transfer without doing so, or the application is denied after you transfer, you are out of status.[2]
  • Changing your plan: an M-1 student may not change educational objective, and USCIS says an M-1 student may not change to F status while in the United States.[1,2]
  • Falling out of status: USCIS may consider reinstating you if you file Form I-539 with an I-20 showing your DSO's recommendation. You must have been out of status no more than 5 months when you file (unless exceptional circumstances caused the delay and you filed as promptly as possible), have no record of repeated or willful violations of DHS regulations, be pursuing or intend to pursue a full course of study at the school that issued the I-20, have no unlawful employment, and not be deportable on any ground other than INA section 237(a)(1)(B) or (C)(i). You must also show in detail that the violation resulted from circumstances beyond your control, or that it relates to a reduced course load your DSO could have authorized and refusal would cause you extreme hardship; if USCIS does not reinstate you, you cannot appeal.[2]
  • Trips abroad: to return to the school you were authorized to attend, you present your I-20 properly endorsed, or a new I-20 if its information has changed substantively since it was issued. If you leave during approved practical training, you can be readmitted only for the rest of the authorized period and to perform that training; you cannot be readmitted to begin practical training that was not authorized before you left.[2]

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Ask WELIVEINUSA Visa

Answers come from our sourced database and your own timeline, sorted into fact, public data, inference and unknown. No AI model is used in this version, so questions outside what we cover get an honest "not covered".

Questions people ask

I am in the U.S. as a visitor. Can I switch to M-1 without leaving?

Possibly, if you were lawfully admitted, your status is still valid, you have not violated its conditions, and you have not committed crimes or done anything else that would make you ineligible for a change of status. You need an initial Form I-20 from an SEVP-certified school, the I-901 SEVIS fee and a Form I-539 filed with USCIS. B-1 and B-2 visitors may not enroll in a course of study, so do not enroll or begin classes until USCIS approves the change; enrolling first is a status violation that makes you ineligible to change to M-1. You must keep a valid status while the I-539 is pending: if your current status ends more than 30 days before your program start date and you want to stay in the U.S. until then, you need status up to 30 days before that date, which for most people means a separate I-539, with its own fee, filed before your status expires; otherwise USCIS will deny the change to M-1. You can instead leave and apply for an M-1 visa at a U.S. embassy or consulate. How this applies to you depends on your facts; an immigration attorney can advise you.[1]

Can I take fewer classes if I get sick?

Your DSO may authorize a reduced course load only where illness or a medical condition, documented by a licensed medical doctor, doctor of osteopathy, psychologist or clinical psychologist, compels you to interrupt or reduce your studies. Your DSO must update SEVIS before you reduce your load, and reduced course loads may total no more than 5 months per course of study; once you have used those 5 months, the DSO cannot authorize another reduction during that course.[2]

Do I have to report it when I move?

Yes. You must tell DHS and your DSO about a legal name change or a change of address within 10 days, in the way your school prescribes. For a change of address, telling the DSO within 10 days satisfies the DHS notice requirement. The address must be the place where you actually live, not a mailing address, unless you cannot receive mail where you live.[2]

Related categories

Content last reviewed: Oct 18, 2026 · General information, not legal advice.

Sources

  1. 1.Changing to a Nonimmigrant F or M Student Status - USCISUSCIS · Agency page · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  2. 2.8 CFR 214.2(m) - Students in established vocationaleCFR (Office of the Federal Register) · Regulation · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  3. 3.9 FAM 402.5 STUDENTS AND EXCHANGE VISITORS – F, M, AND J VISASU.S. Department of State (Foreign Affairs Manual) · USCIS Policy Manual · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  4. 4.Students and Employment - USCISUSCIS · Agency page · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  5. 5.22 CFR 22.1 - Schedule of fees for consular services (Department of State)eCFR (Office of the Federal Register) · Regulation · Checked Sep 27, 2026
  6. 6.8 CFR 106.4 - Premium processing serviceeCFR (Office of the Federal Register) · Regulation · Checked Sep 27, 2026
  7. 7.Fee Schedule (Form G-1055) - USCISUSCIS · Form / instructions · Checked Oct 12, 2026
  8. 8.How Do I Request Premium Processing? - USCISUSCIS · Agency page · Checked Sep 27, 2026
  9. 9.8 U.S.C. 1101 (INA 101) - Definitions, incl. 101(a)(15)(E), (H), (L), 101(a)(44), 101(a)(45)U.S. House of Representatives, Office of the Law Revision Counsel · Statute · Checked Sep 27, 2026
  10. 10.Students and Exchange Visitors - USCISUSCIS · Agency page · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  11. 11.22 CFR 41.12eCFR (Office of the Federal Register) · Regulation · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  12. 12.22 CFR 41.61eCFR (Office of the Federal Register) · Regulation · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  13. 13.8 CFR 274a.12 - Classes of aliens authorized to accept employmenteCFR (Office of the Federal Register) · Regulation · Checked Sep 27, 2026