Admissions Requirements for Students Who Reside Outside the United States
Students who are not United States citizens and are living outside the United States, must apply for an F-1 Visa (student visa) at the American Embassy in their home country. Students applying for an F-1 Visa must take a signed copy of their I-20 to the embassy.
The I-20 will be sent to student's home country only after all of the following documents have been completed.
All International students applying for an F-1 student visa are required to pay a SEVIS fee of $100. The purpose of the fee is to cover the costs of administering and maintaining SEVIS. More information about SEVIS.
Please mail all of the following documents to:
College of the Mainland
Admissions Office
International Student Applicant
1200 Amburn Rd.
Texas City, Texas 77591
The following documents are for those who are applying as an Initial International Student Applicant. View the International Student Application (PDF, 198 KB)
I. APPLICATION FOR ADMISSION
The application must be completed online. The application is on the home page, at www.com.edu.
Before starting the online application, please review the Online Application Checklist.
II. TRANSCRIPTS
Students applying to College of the Mainland must have completed High School in their home country. (U.S. equivalent of 12 years of education) before applying for admission. Student needs to submit all the official transcript(s) (or notarized copies) from all of the educational institutions they have attended, at the high school level AND/OR at the University/College level. If you have attended any U.S. institutions, please submit a copy of the official transcript(s) from all institutions attended.
III. FOREIGN TRANSCRIPT/CREDENTIAL EVALUATION
All Foreign transcripts / credentials must be evaluated by a recognized evaluation agency.
IV. ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY
COM requires all International Students to submit an English Language Proficiency test score.
A student may be admitted into an Academic Program with a minimum score of:
- TOEFL
- 550 (Paper-based test)
- 213 (Computer-based test)
If an English Language Proficiency test places you into an Academic Program, college placement testing is required of all students and will be administered by the college upon the student's arrival.
If outside the U.S., submit an Official TOEFL score. Once the TOEFL test has been taken, the scores need to be sent.
How to take the TOEFL in your home country »
Results should be mailed to the Admissions Office.
Our Institutional TOEFL code is:
If inside the U.S., submit an Official TOEFL score.
The English Language Proficiency requirement will be waived for students of the following countries: Australia, The Bahamas, Belize, Bermuda, Cameroon, Cayman Islands, English speaking Canadian provinces, The Fiji Islands, Gambia, Ghana, Guyana, Jamaica, Kenya, Liberia, Malta, Nauru, Nigeria, New Zealand, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Tobago Trinidad, United Kingdom, The Virgin islands, the West Indies, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
V. STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL SUPPORT
Each student must demonstrate financial support in the amount of $9,600.00 U.S. Dollars. This amount is the estimated cost of educational and living expenses for one year of study at COM. If you are married and/or have children and would like them to travel with you as a dependent(s), additional financial support is required: For Spouse: $5,000 U.S. Dollars Each Child: $2,500 U.S. Dollars. Keep in mind that International students generally are not eligible for employment (work) in the United States during their first nine months in the country.
The sponsor that will be supporting the student must complete ONE of the following documents to verify Financial Support:
- A Notarized / Certified Affidavit of Support - Sponsor. The Form I-134 should only be filled out by sponsors who are U.S. Citizens or Permanent Residents. This statement must be completed and signed by the person who will support the student while he/she attends school.
- For all other sponsors, a Notarized / Certified Affidavit of Financial Backing must be completed. This statement must be completed and signed by the person who will support the student while he/she attends school.
Please remember that whichever document that is submitted, it must be NOTARIZED / CERTIFIED.
VI. SECONDARY FINANCIAL DOCUMENTS
The sponsor that will be supporting the student must ALSO provide secondary financial documentation. Documentation from the sponsor's bank or employer is required to support the Affidavit of Support or the Letter of Financial Backing. All monetary amounts must be shown in US Dollars. The person supporting the student can provide one of the three example statements below:
- Bank Statement on bank letterhead (official bank paper). This is to certify that (Name of person providing support) has had an account in good standing with (Name of Bank) bank since (Time bank account has remained open). The above named individual has made deposits over the past 12 months and has maintained an average balance of $ (U.S. Dollars). It must have the signature of a Bank Official.
- Employer Statement on Company letterhead (official company paper). This is to certify that (Name of person employed) has been employed with (Name of company) since (Date of hire). The above named individual is a (permanent or temporary) employee and works in the capacity of (nature of employment). The monthly/yearly salary is $ (_____). It must have the signature of the employer/supervisor.
- If the person supporting the student lives in the United States or is self employed, a copy of the last income tax return filed can be provided.
VII. APPLICATION FOR AN I-20
The Application for an I-20 must be completed and submitted. This application is to provide the student with an I-20 which will be needed when applying for an F-1 Visa at the U.S. Embassy.
An I-20 form will be prepared by the International Counselor only when ALL of the above documentation is submitted to the Admissions Office. At that point, an I-20 will be printed and signed by the International Student Counselor. An I-20 will be mailed to the address students provide on their Application for an I-20. Please contact the International Student Counselor for a different arrangement in the delivery of your I-20. Please be advised that I-20's will be sent by express mail only at the student's expense.
SEVIS Fee Instructions
All international students applying for an F-1 student visa are required to pay a SEVIS fee of $100 (or $130 if requesting expedited delivery). The purpose of the fee is to cover the costs of maintaining SEVIS, a web-based system for monitoring information about international students in the United States. There are three options for making payment and completing Form I-901, which accompanies the fee:
Option 1: Fill out Form I-901 online at www.fmjfee.com. Completing the form online will ensure that the form is complete and will speed up the processing of the form. You will need your I-20 in order to complete the form. Pay the SEVIS fee of $100 online with a credit or debit card. If you choose this option, you should print out a payment receipt immediately.
Option 2: Fill out the paper version of Form I-901. You can pay the SEVIS fee of $100 by international money order or check drawn on a financial institution in the United States and payable in United States currency. You will need to mail the money order or check along with Form I-901 to one of the addresses listed below. Your name and SEVIS ID number should be on the check or money order. The check or money order should be made payable to I-901 Student/Exchange Visitor Processing Fee. Attach the payment to Form I-901. A third party (such as your sponsor) can mail in the payment for you. This would work best if the third party lives in the United States. You will be mailed a receipt. This option will take the most time since you have to allow time for mailing the form and payment, and time to receive the receipt by mail.
Option 3: Use Western Union Quick Pay service. You should ask for a Blue Form from Western Union that states "Payment Services" or "Quick Pay" at the top. Using this method will allow you to pay in your country's currency and will allow you to send both the fee and form electronically. You should receive a Western Union receipt as your proof of payment. A sample Western Union form can be found at www.ice.gov/graphics/sevis/i901/wu_fm_inter.htm. Bring it with you to your local Western Union office that has a Quick Pay service. Make sure you fill out the form completely and that you use the address to which you want the receipt mailed.
For any of the above options, you will need your form I-20 to complete Form I-901. Your SEVIS number is at the upper right corner of your I-20 and begins with a letter 'N'. The school code can be found at the bottom of box 2 on your I-20. We strongly recommend either Option 1 or Option 3. For more information see www.ice.gov/sevis/i901/faq.htm.
By mail:
I-901 Student / Exchange Visitor Processing Fee
P. O. Box 970020
St. Louis, MO 63197-0020
United States
By courier (expedited delivery):
I-901 Student / Exchange Visitor Processing Fee
1005 Convention Plaza
St. Louis, MO 63101
United States
Helpful Links
- Health Insurance
- International Student Health Insurance from ISO
- The Lewer Agency, Inc.
- Macori. Inc.
- Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS)
- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
- Foreign Consular Offices in the United States (The U.S. Department of State)
- Foreign Embassy Information & Publications
- The Universal Currency Converter
- XE.com - Universal Currency Converter
- Houston area cultural resources
- Houston Institute for Culture
- About Houston
- Things to do in Houston
Admissions & Registration
Information for International Students
Contact
Martin Perez
International Student Admissions
College of the Mainland
1200 Amburn Rd.
Texas City, TX 77591
409-938-1211, Ext. 653
888-258-8859, Ext. 653