Getting Your First I-20 Form

Once you confirm your enrollment with our admission team, Whitman's DSO (Designated School Official) will work with you to issue your initial I-20 form. You will need this document to secure a F-1 student visa.

The process takes time and will ask of you to upload the following scanned documents to your Whitman College applicant portal:

• Passport
• Previous U.S. visa (if any)
• Previous/current I-20 forms (transfer students)
• Certificate of Finances — a form that lists liquid financial assets that are available to you to support your expenses for one academic year. You will include supporting documents as evidence of these listed assets. An example of evidence is a bank statement. All these documents must be recent, no more than 3 months old. You can use the same documents for your visa interview but they may need to be updated.

The Department of Homeland Security allows for digital signatures and distribution of I-20 forms. Therefore, you will receive email with information on how to access your I-20 securely. You will need to print this form and sign/date it at the bottom. Your (student) signature cannot be digital. Review the form carefully for mistakes such as:

• The spelling of your name
• Place of birth
• Date of birth
• Program and session dates

Carefully read page 3 of the form for important guidelines and regulations.