Please refer to the below FAM.
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9 FAM 41.61 N9.2-1 B-2 Visa for Visitor Who Will Engage in a Short Course of Study
(CT:VISA-1668; 07-26-2011)
a. Aliens whose principal purpose of travel (see 9 FAM 41.31 N6.1) is tourism, but who plan to engage also in a short course of study (less than 18 hours per week) are properly classified for B-2 visas. You must determine whether the content of the course qualifies as a short course of study. If the student plans to spend a week or more of full-time study (more than 18 hours per week), and/or earns academic credit or completion of an academic program of study in the United States, then an F-1 or M-1 visa is required. You should annotate the visa as follows: "STUDY INCIDENTAL TO VISIT; Form I-20, Certificate of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant (F-1) Student Status-for Academic and Language Students NOT REQUIRED." (See 9 FAM 41.31 N13.6.)
b. An alien enrolling in such a school may be classified B-2 if the purpose of attendance is recreational or avocational. When the nature of a school's program is difficult to determine, you should request from DHS (
[email protected]) the proper classification of the program and whether approval of Form I-20, Certificate of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant (F-1) Student Status - for Academic and Language Students, will be more appropriate. (See 9 FAM 41.31 N14.8.)
c. Currently, aliens traveling to the United States to attend seminars or conferences that are required to earn a degree are not eligible for B visa classification. This category includes students engaged in an on-line course of study traveling to the United States for academic consultations or to take examinations. In the case of an alien traveling to the United States to attend seminars and conferences for credit toward a degree, the study is neither incidental to a tourist visit, avocational, nor recreational.
