Nonimmigrant foreign students generally receive F visa or J-1 entry visas. The F-1 is a student visa, while the J-1 is an exchange visitor visa. The one you get will depend on how your education is funded.
Educational Funding Differences
J-1 status may be obtained by those who are approved for visas to attend school while funded by a third party. More accurately, if the funding comes from a government agency, the college, or a an organization offering scholarships, you may be granted J-1 status. F-1 status, on the other hand, may be obtained by those who are approved for visas to attend school while self-funded. More accurately, if the funding is provided by you or a family member, you may be granted F-1 status.
Special Medical Insurance Requirements for J-1 Status
If you are granted J-1 status, your dependents may be granted J-2 visas. Both you, as a J-1 status exchange visitor, and any of your J-2 status dependents must have a comprehensive medical insurance plan.
Work Permits
Both F-1 status and J Visa status students are eligible to work on campus for less than 20 hours each week after a successful application is filed. You are not allowed to work off campus during your initial year as a student. After the first year, if you can prove financial need, you can apply for a work permit. If you are granted this work permit, you can get a regular job on or off campus. F-1 status students must apply to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services for this work permit. J-1 status students must apply to the school or organization that filed the DS-2019 to sponsor the J-1 visa for this work permit.
Extending Your Visa Status
Students with either type of visa may apply for additional training between and beyond their regular studies. In the case of F-1 status, you are allowed to go as far as practical training in the form of education-related employment, provided you get approval from your DS-2019 sponsor. This allows you to work as a part of your studies either during your other studies or for as long as a year following your other studies. You should keep in mind that undergraduate students must wait at least one year before undertaking this practical training. Graduate students are immediately eligible to apply for it.
Many of the same rights are available to J-1 status students as academic training that is deemed integral to your degree program. You need only attend for one term of study before you may turn in an application for work that may be deemed integral as academic training for your degree program. J-1 status students may continue their employment as academic training for as long as 18 months at any point after the first term through the period immediately following other academic studies. If you are a doctoral student, you can apply for as long as 36 months of postdoctoral research employment. As with other J-1 applications, you must turn your application in to your DS-2019 sponsor.
As you can see if you are planning on studying in America the visa you qualify for and receive will determine the status you need to maintain and would influence several aspects of your life during and after your studies.