There are certain governments around the world that sponsor their citizens to study languages abroad. The most common one that we encounter is Saudi Arabia. Other countries that also do this include Spain, Turkey, and Libya (although the Libyan governments has a reputation for always being delayed with their payment). Below is a step-by-step process for enrolling them. If there are questions not answered below, please contact the school directly.
>> Saudi Arabian students going to the USA
Note: The Embassy stipulates that the student must study more than 18 hours per week, therefore, the student has to take more than 24 classes per week in order to fall into this category. If the student misses classes, these will be marked as absences and may affect the student’s future sponsorship.
- Student needs to first get a scholarship letter from the Saudi government (standard letter that the Ministry of Higher Education issues to students in Saudi Arabia).
- Student needs to send Open Abroad the following documents:
- student’s passport copy,
- filled out enrollment form from the school, and
- scholarship letter from the Saudi government (standard letter that the Ministry of Higher Education issues to students in Saudi Arabia).
- Open Abroad needs to send the three documents above to respective representatives at the school.
- Upon receipt of the three documents above, the school issues a letter of acceptance and also an I-20. Student does not need to pay the enrollment fee and express mailing fee at this time.
- Student flies to the US and stops at the Saudi Cultural Mission before they reach their final school destination. The Saudi Cultural Mission will help the student establish a bank account, get a phone number, and — most importantly — get the financial guarantee letter.
- Student flies to the school and submits their financial guarantee letter from the student’s advisor in Washington DC. Prices are the same.
>> Saudi Arabian students going to LSI
- If the student is paying privately:
- We should receive payment before we send accommodation details. This means that a student should allow enough time for their payment to be received, for us to send the accommodation details and then for them to go to their interview at the Embassy.
If the student is on a scholarship
- The student should provide a copy of a letter from the Ministry with details of the length of the course, the student’s ID number, etc. If possible, an amount should be indicated, as well as the timing of payment. If it is to be made in installments, there should be a description of how we are to invoice, etc.
- At least 4 weeks of accommodation should be paid in advance (before we send details). If the student is going to pay for accommodation month-by-month, they need to understand that to cancel LSI accommodation, 2 weeks’ notice is required
- On arrival, we will put a copy of the student’s letter and any supporting documents from the government on file
- If we are responsible for reporting on the student’s progress or attendance, please let us know how often and to whom we should send the report
For more questions, please contact the individual LSI schools.
>> Libyan students going to USA
- - Get government sponsorship letter.
- - Enroll into a language course.
- - School sends I-20 and conditional acceptance.
*** - - Student applies for visa, gets it, comes to America.
- - Upon arrival in the US, student goes to the embassy, to get financial support letter from embassy.
- - Once they get financial support letter, they can enter classes – no letter, no classes.
***if student wants to continue to College
3a – send school transcript, interests etc, for THEM to help decide which college is best for them
3b – school advise on College and entrance reqs. gives conditional acceptance to student