B2 to F1 Visa change

[vykith]

Hello everyone,

I am currently pursuing my bachelor's degree (last semester)  from a university in India. I came to the US in July 2020 on L2(dependent visa) and my L2 visa expired in March 2021. Before the expiration of L2 visa, I applied for a B2 visa to stay in the USA. I haven't yet received my B2 visa as it is in process.

When I was under L2 visa, (had not applied for B2 visa during that time) I gave my GRE and TOEFL, applied for Master's program in a few universities in the USA, and received admits from some of them. I want to accept an offer from a university but during my recent research on the internet, I found that I cannot apply for an F1 visa while staying under a B2 visa in the USA unless I show them that I arrived without a "preconceived intent to study". The other way for me to obtain an F1 visa is to travel back to India and apply from there, which I do not want to do as India is surging in covid cases. Is it possible, that if I show the USCIS I had applied for universities while under the L2 visa, I could be able to obtain an F1 visa without going out and applying from another country?

Any advice would be helpful. Thank you.

 

[GeetaK]

Hi! Did you receive any advice? I'm in a similar situation.