Asking for a neighbor’s friend:
He has family friends whose son wants to come to High School here, and eventually get into an American University. Money is not the issue. This teen will live here with a friend of the family (not a relative.) The country of origin is China. They only want to peruse it if it’s legal. Is it?
If the student is NOT a legal US resident by the time he apples to college, he will have to apply as an international student, same as all the other kids in China who want to go to US colleges do. So living here, under those circumstances, will NOT increase his chances of acceptance to US colleges. It may or may not be legal now, but who knows what will happen in the next 4 years?
And given the current govts attitude toward immigrants, I would not encourage them to even consider sending their son here.
It certainly has been done historically.
Yes, an international minor can legally go to school in the US at [SEVP approved schools](School Search | Study in the States) on an F-1 visa (up to for 12 months at a public school; all 4 years for a private school).
The ‘friend of the family’ will have significant legal requirements to meet.
It’s possible as long as they’re willing to host him and pay tuition fees at his policies or private or parochial school as long as it’s on the SEVP list.
Thank all of you for chiming in. DS just got an MA in an good university in France, and was not only welcome but tuition was practically nothing. I’m amazed at the Internationals who want to brave our less than generous system, at least for public education.
For the minor I asked about, fortunately, money is not the obstacle.