Please look at section 5 of your I-20 (or section 3 of your DS-2019). What is the completion date? If that date is NOT the date that you plan to complete your studies, you must contact OIS immediately. If you believe that you will need more time beyond the date listed on your I-20, contact your academic advisor and alert OIS by submitting a Program Extension Request at least three weeks BEFORE your current I-20 expires. If your completion date is for a future term, and you will complete your studies this term, you must let OIS know this as well. If for any reason the completion date on your I-20 is not accurate, you must inform us so that we can help you maintain your F-1/J-1 status.

Remember that reality is always more important than what is written on your I-20 or DS-2019! You should NEVER try to re-enter the US with an I-20 or DS-2019 just because the date is still valid. If you have already completed your studies, the I-20 is no longer valid regardless of the date. Please note that the graduation date and the completion date are not necessarily the same. The completion date on your I-20/DS-2019 should reflect the date that you intend to complete all degree requirements, not the date of your graduation ceremony.

By keeping your records as accurate as possible, this ensures our office's ability to not only advise you appropriately, but to also ensure that you are keeping in compliance with federal F-1 regulations.

OPT: Optional Practical Training

If you are completing your studies in December 2023 and you wish to apply for OPT, you can apply beginning 90 days before your program end date. The latest you can apply is 60 days after your program completion date (application must be received by USCIS by the 60th day); however, we recommend applying sooner rather than later in most cases. Your real completion date (reality) is more important than what is written in the completion date in Sec. 5 on your I20. You can read further instructions on applying for OPT here.

CPT: Curricular Practical Training

CPT is issued per semester. If you are currently working under CPT and wish to continue your internship/employment into the next term while still a student, you must apply for a new CPT authorization for that semester. Please be sure to apply for CPT work authorization BEFORE starting work. It is illegal to work prior to obtaining CPT authorization. OIS cannot back-date CPT employment. You can read further instructions on applying for CPT here.

For students on post-completion OPT:

This is a friendly reminder that you must submit your OPT employment information to your SEVP Portal within 10 days of any given change (starting a new job, ending a job, changing jobs, etc). It is important you do this and to remain vigilant of your OPT reporting requirements, as any information that you submit to immigration must be accurate and up-to-date at all times. Failure to do this will otherwise compromise and/or violate your F-1 status.

Please also remember that you can only report employment through the SEVP Portal if you work for more than 20 hours per week (meaning 21+ hours). If you have multiple employments which combined working hours are more than 20 hours per week, you can report through the SEVP Portal. However, you should update the SEVP Portal employment when your combined employment hours are no longer more than 20 hours.

For more information, please review and follow OPT reporting requirements and instructions on how to report employment through the SEVP Portal. If you have any questions about employment reporting, or have any difficulties with using the SEVP Portal, please contact ois@fordham.edu.

For students on STEM OPT Extension:

This is a friendly reminder that your reporting responsibilities for employment are different from responsibilities on post-completion OPT. The only thing that you are able to change on the SEVP Portal directly is your US address or phone number. Please read our STEM OPT Portal Reporting Q&A to understand how best to use the SEVP portal on STEM OPT Extension.

All other employment changes must be reported to OIS via the I-983 Form within 10 days of the given change occurring. For more information, please carefully review all of the guidelines related to STEM OPT reporting procedures listed here: https://www.fordham.edu/info/24658/stem_extension/7263/reporting_requirements_for_stem. If you have any questions or concerns about your status, please contact ois@fordham.edu.

This is a friendly reminder that it is your responsibility to make sure that you are reporting your US home address and employment name and address to OIS via the STEM OPT Employment Validation portal. These validation updates must be done every 6 months from the start date listed on your STEM EAD card. Additionally, as part of your 12 and 24 month validation updates, you have to submit a training evaluation (Page 5 of the Form I-983), signed by your current supervisor. This page should be submitted via the STEM OPT Employment Validation portal, along with your validation information.

You can easily calculate your 6-month marks on STEM OPT. For example, if STEM OPT starts Jan 1, 2023, as listed on your STEM EAD card:

· 6 month alert is: July 1, 2023

· 12 month alert is: Jan 1, 2024 (also one year evaluation is due - top of page 5 of I-983)

· 18 month alert is: July 1, 2024

· 24 month alert is: December 31, 2024 (also final year evaluation is due - bottom of page 5 of I-983)

It is important to remain vigilant and aware of your reporting times, since this is related to your STEM OPT and immigration matters. You may set alarms on your calendar or schedule to keep track of these reporting times. The SEVP Portal may email you notices as a courtesy within one month of each of your reporting due dates but please note their reporting dates may be incorrect—so please keep track of your reporting dates yourself and act accordingly.

Remember that it is ultimately your responsibility as the student to keep track of and report these validations, and submit the validations and/or evaluations to OIS, as listed on the Acknowledgement for Maintaining Status on STEM OPT.

For more information regarding your STEM OPT reporting responsibilities, please visit here.

If you have received H1B approval, please submit your H1B Approval Notice and your I-983 p.5 final evaluation (bottom half of page 5) to our OIS validation portal (select 24 month mark or H1B Approval, and my final evaluation is due) at your earliest convenience.

The Diversity Visa Program (DV Lottery) is congressionally-mandated and allows up to 55,000 persons from nations that are historically underrepresented in terms of migration to the United States of America to qualify each year for immigrant visas which are also known as Green Cards.

The program is called the “Green Card Lottery” or "dvlottery" because the winners are determined through a random drawing from among the 10–12 million people who enter each year worldwide.

Please note that OIS/Fordham is not involved in this process at all. Although you do not need an attorney to apply, you are more than welcome to obtain one at that stage if you wish to. We suggest you stay away from "agents" who claim to help expedite the process or your chance of success, as they could not.

If you win the lottery, then we strongly suggest you seek and secure guidance from an immigration attorney.

You can read more about this here.

If you are planning to travel outside the US, make sure your travel documents are valid and endorsed. This includes: Valid passport, Valid F1 or J1 visa, Valid I-20/DS-2019 with a valid travel endorsement signature.

Note: I-20 travel signatures are good for 1 year for current students. If you are on OPT, your travel signature is good for 6 months. These times are calculated based on the date of the most recent travel signature.

· If you are on OPT, you should also bring your EAD card and proof of employment. If you have applied for OPT but not yet received your EAD card, you should bring your Approval Notice and/or Receipt Notice.

When you re-enter the US, if you do not have your I-20/DS-2019, or the signature is not valid, you can ask for a Form I-515. Once you are in the US, you must reach out to us immediately so we can fix your I-515.

If you will be going on a cruise, make sure to bring your I-20 with you!

As you know, the I-94 is now an electronic record. The OIS does not require students to submit their I-94 upon returning to the US, but we do recommend that you retrieve your I-94 from www.cbp.gov/i94 whenever you re-enter the country. You will NOT be able to retrieve your I-94 while you are outside the US, because the I-94 is an ENTRY document.

You can read more about this as well as request a new travel signature here.

Make sure your address information is up-to-date and correct!

¨ US phone numbers are now required by SEVIS (Federal Law). Make sure you enter your US phone number in my.fordham.edu

¨ Check your I-20 completion date! Please see section on I-20/DS-2019 Completion Information

¨ Enroll Full-Time! All students must enroll full time in classes. This means at least 12 credits/term for undergraduates, and at least 9 credits for graduates.

(Only students in their last term may enroll less than full time.)

¨If you are NOT in your last term, but you will be enrolled less than full time, you must fill out our Deviation from Full Course of Study form, found under the Current Students section of our website.

While studying in the United States, make sure you understand how to recognize signs of scams that may put you at risk. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security continues to see several scams targeting international students, usually through the forms of phone calls or social media messages.

These scams occur when strangers, often impersonating government agency personnel, contact students and intimidate them by threatening their immigration status or university standing. Scammers then ask students to provide payment or personal information.

Make sure you understand the common scams and report suspicious contact to prevent harmful situations from occurring.

If you receive a threatening call or message from someone claiming to be a government or law enforcement official, you should:

• Guard your personal and financial information.
• Attempt to collect contact information from the caller.
• End the conversation immediately if threats and intimidation persist.

Please note that OIS has also been made aware of scammers using the OIS phone number to contact students. If you ever receive a call from the OIS phone number that seems suspicious, please hang up and do not provide any personal information. Immediately send us an email advising us of this so it can be investigated further.

Additional information/links:

Avoid Scams Resource Center

Common scams

Reporting Immigration Scams

Fall 2023 Liaison Information Report on Scams Targeting Chinese Students

Global Transition (GT) is a welcome program for new international undergraduate students. It is full of fun, interesting, and helpful activities and sessions, and is a great way for new international students to get to know Fordham, New York, and other Fordham students. GT 2023 may have just recently ended but we are already starting to plan for GT 2024.

This program is an exciting and unique way for current undergrads, both international and domestic, to get involved and get to know other international students as well as the incoming international class.

GT is growing, and so is the GT Team! We have Global Transition Student Coordinators, Global Transition Assistants, Global Transition Logistic Coordinators, and Global Transition Photographer/ Videographers. For more info about these roles, take a look at the GT Team page of our website.

If you would like to be part of the program during GT 2024, then keep your eyes open for our Global Transition Team applications.

Applications for most roles will open early in the spring term.

Global Transition team members say they have a lot of fun and form some great new friendships during the program. If you want to help international students adjust to life at Fordham, share your experience, and make meaningful friendships, Global Transition is the way to do it! Check out our video from GT Fall 2023 move in day!

Please check https://www.fordham.edu/gt for updates!

More than 800 languages are spoken in New York City, making it the most linguistically diverse city in the world!

Email Address: ois@fordham.edu
OIS Website: fordham.edu/ois

Appointments: https://fordhamois.as.me/schedule/6a3e69d7