MAINTAINING YOUR F-1 STUDENT STATUS

Introduction

There are about sixty different United States non-immigrant statuses. One of these is F-1 student status. The purpose of this booklet is to explain the main requirements for F-1 students whose F-1 status is based on Federal Forms I-20 that were issued by Midwest College of Oriental Medicine, which is sometimes referred to as MCOM.

The United States government places requirements upon F-1 students and upon the colleges which have received government permission to enroll them. Each Midwest College of Oriental Medicine F-1 student is responsible to know the following information. More complete information is available at the Department of Foreign Students, which is sometimes called DFS. DFS Dean of Foreign Students is happy to talk with students about their status.

Vocabulary Regarding Your F-1 Status

USCIS stands for the government bureau named U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. This agency does some of the work of the previous Immigration and Naturalization Service.

SEVIS stands for the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System. This is a government database with information about all F-1 students and J-1 exchange visitors, as well as their family dependents who have F-2 or J-2 status. You are required by law to keep your SEVIS information up to date at all times by informing the MCOM Dean of Foreign Students of any changes.

DFS stands for a Department of Foreign Students of Midwest College of Oriental Medicine.

PDSO stands for a college Principal Designated School Official. PDSO is appointed by the President of the College and is approved by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to act on behalf of the college in F-1 student procedures. The PDSO works for the college, not for the government. PDSO at DFS is the Dean of Foreign Students. Your information must reach a PDSO at DFS to be entered into SEVIS as required by law.

D/S stands for Duration of Status. This is the ending date of your legally authorized studies. A student's D/S date is often the same as the date in item #5 of the student's Form I-20 indicating the expected date of the completion of studies. If a student completes studies or violates F-1 regulations before the I-20 completion date, the D/S date becomes the earlier of the completion or violation date.

Official Communications

You must help your PDSO to help you keep your F-1 status by watching for messages from him. Your PDSO may send you information in one, or more, of the following three ways:

1. You are responsible to know the information that a PDSO sends to you at the United States postal mail (residence) address that is listed for you in SEVIS.
2. You are responsible to know the information that a PDSO sends to you at your MCOM e-mail address. Unfortunately the PDSO cannot use other student's e-mail addresses. You are required to activate your MCOM e-mail account and check it regularly.
3. You are responsible to know the printed information that a PDSO provides for you, such as the contents of this booklet, Maintaining Your F-1 Student Status. An updated copy of this booklet is available for you at the beginning of each quarter.

Requirements to Keep Your F-1 Status

Enroll Full Time Every Quarter:

Each semester you are required to complete an amount of studies that is considered legally to be full-time. (Some exceptions to this requirement are explained below in the section titled "Receive PDSO Permission in Writing Before You Become Part-Time.")

In general, the immigration rule for undergraduate students having full-time enrollment means completion of, at least, 12 credit hours per quarter. For graduate students, full-time enrollment means either completion of, at least, 7 credit hours per quarter or other full-time academic activities that justify registration for full-time Continuous Enrollment. Audited courses (AU grades) are not counted toward F-1 full-time status.

In MCOM policy, full-time enrollment for international students means completion of, at least, 12 credit hours per quarter. However, the international students should enroll in all courses every quarter in order to finish the program on time.

Receive PDSO Permission in Writing Before You Become Part-Time:

There are some exceptions to the usual requirement for full-time enrollment. If you plan to complete less than the minimum 12 credits, or full-time studies and Continuous Enrollment, you must first contact a PDSO at DFS to learn whether or not an exception is legally possible in your situation. You cannot legally become a part-time student without approval in advance and in writing from a PDSO. The PDSO must enter your permission into the government database before you become part-time. If the PDSO does not, you will lose your F-1 status.

The legal reasons for part-time enrollment permission are based on health conditions, improper course level placement, completion of studies at the end of the quarter, initial difficulties with the English language, and unfamiliarity with teaching methods. There are many important details in arranging for legal part-time enrollment, and your PDSO can explain the requirements for you to quality for permission. If you become part-time without legal authorization in advance, you will automatically lose your F-1 status, even if your reason for becoming part-time is legally acceptable.

If you must withdraw completely from the College, you should request written approval from a PDSO before you withdraw. In very unusual situations, a student may have to withdraw from the College for some emergency reasons before the end of the term. If the student receives written approval from the PDSO before withdrawing, the student will have 15 days of legal status to depart from the United States. But if the student withdraws without the PDSO's written approval, the student will lose F-1 status as soon as he or she withdraws.

Enroll On Time:

You must register for full-time studies or receive PDSO permission to be part-time before the end of the official registration period for the quarter. You need to finish all of your course registration no later than the end of the official late registration period. At the close of late registration, the college computer system must accurately reflect your enrollment status. If you are enrolled only part-time without permission, you will lose your F-1 status.

Complete Your Authorized Program of Study Before Your D/S Date:

You must complete all of the requirements for your degree at your current level of study no later than the expected completion date indicated in item #5 of your Form I-20. That is your D/S date unless you complete those studies or lose your status earlier than that date.

If you need less time to complete the studies indicated on your Form I-20, you need to contact a PDSO at DFS to issue you a revised Form I-20 showing your correct completion date.

If you need more time to complete the studies indicated on your Form I-20, you can ask your PDSO for an extension. The PDSO can extend your stay if there are valid academic reasons to justify the extension. You may apply for an extension at any time before your D/S date. You cannot apply after your D/S date. When you quality for an extension, the PDSO will issue you a new Form I-20 with the new expected completion date in item #5.

If you want to continue to another course of study or to practical training, you must complete your arrangements with a PDSO before your D/S/ completion date.

Depart from the United States On Time after Your D/S Date:

After you complete all of your authorized academic studies and practical training, you will have sixty days to prepare for your departure from the United States. This sixty days is not indicated on your Form I-20 or Practical Training authorization card, and the 60 days in not part of your D/S. It is one final time period for you to depart from the United States with valid F-1 status.

Arrange for Documents at MCOM Before Traveling Outside the United States:

If you are planning to depart from the United States temporarily, you should contact DFS normally one or two weeks before departure to receive appropriate advice and documents, such as a new Form I-20, if necessary. When you come to DFS about this procedure, you will receive instructions and a form to complete. You can take the form away with you and bring it back later, or you may be able to complete the form while you are at the office. To complete the form and the related procedures, you will need to bring your Passport, Form I-94, Form I-20, and possibly other items depending upon your situation. Please remember that your insurance will need to be paid for the quarter of your re-entry to the United States.

You may need visas or other documents to enter the countries that you plan to visit, including Canada. Some students may need transit permission to travel through certain countries, including the activity of walking through a foreign airport to change from one airplane to another. You will need to contact the governments of those countries in advance for information about their entry and transit requirements, if any.

Watch for U.S.-VISIT Exit Procedures:

When you depart from the United States, watch for special kiosks or work stations of the U.S.-VISIT program where you need to register your departure. In general, this departure procedure includes scanning your visa or passport and taking digital fingerprints and photos similar to the procedure when you entered the United States. An attendant should be available to assist you.

U.S.-VISIT stands for "United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology." It is available at this time for departures from many airports including Detroit, Chicago (O'Hare Airport), Newark, San Francisco, and others which many MCOM students use. If the U.S.-VISIT system is available at your port of departure, you should use it. If it is not yet available at your port of departure, obviously you are not required to use it.

The electronic evidence of your departure is added automatically to your government record, and you should receive a paper receipt as evidence that you have fulfilled this new departure requirement. Keep the paper receipt to show airline or government representatives if they request the evidence when you depart, or, in the future.

Keep Your Passport Valid at All Times:

You are required by United States regulations to keep your passport valid at all times, and in some cases it must be valid for at least six months into the future. The procedures for renewing a passport vary from country to country, and procedures for each country may change from time to time.

For correct information, contact your country's Embassy or Consulate in the United States. Some countries have agreements with the United States which assure that their passports will be considered valid for the purpose of return to that country for six months beyond their expiration dates. You need to plan in advance to renew your passport when necessary.

Apply On Time at MCOM to Change Your Degree Level of Study Within MCOM:

If you are finishing your MCOM degree and want to continue at MCOM for another degree program, you will need a new MCOM Form I-20 from DFS for the new degree program. You will need to receive this new Form I-20 before the D/S date of your present program. There is a required legal procedure in SEVIS for you to change from the present to the new degree program, and PDSO will explain this procedure to you when you contact DFS about your plans.

If You Go to Another U.S. University, Complete the SEVIS Transfer Procedure:

When a student plans to transfer his or her SEVIS record from MCOM to enroll at another United States university, the student must first inform a PDSO at DFS of his or her intent to transfer. The MCOM PDSO will need to know the exact name and location of the school to which the student will transfer. Then the MCOM PDSO will give the student more information about the legal procedures to transfer from MSOM to the new school.

The student must complete these arrangements with the MCOM PDSO before the student's D/S completion date. A student must complete these SEVIS transfer procedures whether the student is moving to the new school to continue studies at the same level (such as continuation of a Bachelor's degree program) or whether the student will begin a new level of studies at the new school (school as graduate studies at a different university after completing a MCOM Master's degree).

If You Come to MCOM from Another U.S. School, Complete the SEVIS Transfer:

When a new F-1 student is transferring directly from another United States school to MCOM, the student must visit a PDSO at DFS, with the following documents no more than 15 days after the reporting date indicated in item #5 of the student's MCOM Form I-20. The new student must bring to DFS his or her passport and Form I-94, the Form I-20 of the student's previous school, and the new MCOM Form I-20.

Work Only the Permissible Number of Hours per Week on the MCOM Campus:

As an MCOM F-1 student you are authorized to work on the MCOM campus. In general, jobs which are considered to be "on-campus employment" are paid from MCOM funds and performed on MCOM property under the supervision of regular MCOM faculty members or administrators who are acting in their official college capacities to provide services to MCOM students, or, to other appropriate college personnel. Employment is limited to 20 hours per week when school is in session, and may be full-time during school vacations. In the process of arranging for an on-campus job, you may need to visit DFS for a written confirmation of your legal eligibility to work on campus.

In very unusual situations, "on-campus employment" can include certain jobs which take place away from MCOM property if they are educationally affiliated with the school's established curriculum or are related to contractually funded research at the graduate level and are an integral part of the student's educational program. If you have one of these unusual job opportunities, you should receive in advance from a PDSO at DFS a written confirmation that the proposed job is considered to be "on-campus" although it will be performed on property that is off campus.

A student who is transferring from one United States school to another may be employed only on the campus of the school which has access to the student's SEVIS record. Normally this will mean that a student can work on the campus of the "old" school only until the end of the student's final semester at that school. A student cannot begin employment at the "new" school until the legal F-1 school transfer procedure is completed by the PDSO at the new school.

Understand Your Opportunities for Practical Training Authorization:

Practical training authorization allows you to accept part-time or full-time employment that is directly related to your major area of study and commensurate with your level of education. You first need to be enrolled for, at least, four quarters, unless you are a graduate student in a program that requires such training of its students earlier than the end of those four quarters.

There are two general categories of practical training. One is called Curricular Practical Training (CPT) and allows for employment that is a required part of the official curriculum which you have chosen to complete for your degree. This kind of authorization is not available to most students because the employment must be an integral part of the student's established curriculum such as an Engineering Co-op Program assignment or the clinical phase of a health program.

Curricular practical training employment must be offered by a sponsoring employer who has an agreement with the college to provide these educational experiences for MCOM students. CPT authorization is not limited in duration, but a student who receives 12 months or more or CPT authorization may not be eligible for the Optional Practical Training (OPT) which is explained below. To apply for curricular practical training you need to visit DFS. MCOM PDSO is authorized to grant permission for curricular practical training, if the legal requirements are met. The second category is called Optional Practical Training (OPT). There are four times when students may be employed with this kind of authorization. One is during a school vacation. Another is part-time while school is in session. Another is after completion of all course work requirements while completing other degree requirements, such as a thesis or dissertation. The fourth time is upon completion of the course of study. You may receive up to 12 months of authorization for OPT at each level of study. For example, a student who uses 12 months of OPT related to a Bachelor's degree program will be eligible for another 12 months of OPT related to a Master's degree program. You do not need a specific job offer before applying for OPT authorization.

In general, you should receive optional practical training advice at DFS, at least, three or four months before you want your authorization to begin. If you want to participate in OPT after completing your studies, you must apply for OPT before your D/S date. After completing the procedures at DFS, you will need to send your application to the USCIS processing office in Nebraska for its decision, and that office may take months to process your application. You must receive your OPT authorization in writing from USCIS before you can begin the employment.

DFS will advise you to maintain your F-1 status and not depart from the United States while awaiting the results of your OPT application if you have completed your studies. However, at the time of this writing, the DHS Web site indicates that a student who has not yet received OPT authorization may return to the United States to search for employment.

After you receive your OPT authorization, DFS can issue a new Form I-20 for you to apply for return to the United States after a temporary visit outside this country. However, the DHS Website indicates that a student who has received authorization for OPT may return to the United States only if he or she already has a practical training job or a definite job offer.

Therefore, DFS advises OPT students to maintain F-1 status and not depart from the United States until they have an OPT job. The federal regulations state that an OPT student who is otherwise admissible may return to the Unites States "to resume employment."

Although a student may graduate from MCOM and begin OPT employment in some other part of the United States, the student is still legally in MCOM F-1 student status. The student is required by law to continue contact with the MCOM PDSO, and the PDSO is required to update the student's information in SEVIS until the end of the student's MCOM F-1 status.

If a student with practical training authorization transfers to another school or begins study at another education level, his or her practical training authorization is automatically terminated.

Contact a PDSO Promptly if You Encounter Severe Financial Problems:

In some unusual situations a student can apply to USCIS (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services) for permission to work off campus because of severe economic hardship. These applications are possible only if the financial need is caused by an unforeseeable change in the student's financial support.

A student must complete four quarters of study before receiving authorization for this kind of employment. In addition to proving unforeseen economic hardship, the student must demonstrate that he or she cannot meet the financial needs by working on campus, and that the employment will not interfere with completion of the student's full course of study. Off-campus employment can be authorized for no more than one year at a time.

Students who encounter unforeseeable financial hardship should contact DFS as soon as possible. Normally only a few MCOM students each year request this kind of authorization. The total hours of student employment are still limited to 20 hours per week when school is on session, although employment may be full-time during school vacations. The employment authorization, if approved, requires continual good academic standing and valid F-1 status.

Plan Ahead to Pay for Your MCOM Group or Health Insurance:

All MCOM F-1 visa students are required to have health insurance as a condition of enrollment at MCOM. You can fulfill this requirement by participation in the F-1 student group insurance program that is organized by DFS. Students who are eligible for that insurance can make arrangements for their coverage and receive further information at DFS. If you prefer a different insurance plan, please bring a description of it to DFS in advance for a possible waiver of the DFS group insurance plan.

In general, each student in the F-1 group insurance plan pays for insurance each quarter, preferably by early September, December, March, and June for the next quarter. Insurance coverage is a requirement for academic enrollment. Students cannot register for classes or receive I-20 Forms to enter the United States until the insurance cost is paid. MCOM F-1 students who want to travel outside the United States and return for studies at MCOM must pay for their insurance in advance for the quarter of their return.

If you end your F-1 legal status as a MCOM student before the end of your paid insurance period, you may be eligible for a refund of your payment for the unused months. Please contact DFS about your situation and to request any possible refund. Students are not eligible for this group insurance after they graduate or apply for the status of United States permanent resident.

The insurance descriptions of coverage, claim forms, and enrollment cards are available at DFS. New students who did not receive them and continuing students with outdated cards should go to DFS for their for their insurance papers.

The cost of this DFS student group insurance can change each year and depends on how much money the insurance company must pay for the medical care of our MCOM F-1 group members. To help keep down the price of this group insurance, please visit the MCOM clinic first for care whenever appropriate in non-emergency situations.

Keep Your SEVIS Record Up to Date at All Times:

Government regulations require universities to maintain and to report certain information about all of their F-1 students. Colleges must enter some of this information into SEVIS. Information is available to numerous government agencies, such as United States embassies and consulates, ports of entry, and USCIS offices.

Each student's SEVIS record must be updated promptly for all of these agencies to see when a student receives a visa, enters the United States, enrolls at a college, changes an address, changes a field of study, proceeds to a different level of study, receives employment permission or practical training authorization, and so forth. PDSO is required to add some kinds of information to each student's SEVIS record according to deadlines that are stated in the federal regulations. To fulfill these record-keeping requirements, each F-1 student needs to inform a PDSO at DFS within ten days of any changes in the following information. (Students who have F-2 spouses or children must also report changes for those dependents within the same ten-day period.)

• Change of residence address where you are living in the United States
• Change of postal address if you cannot receive mail at your United States residence address
• Change of address outside the United States
• Change in legal name
• Change in nationality
• Change in legal status in the United States
• Changes in official major field of study
• Change in expected graduation date, if it will be earlier than the present D/S date
• Change in fundamental sources of financial support

Fulfill Any Special Registration Requirements if Applicable to Your Nationality:

Students from a small number of countries must also fulfill additional "special registration" requirements to maintain their legal status in the United States. The PDSO at DFS attempts to contact these students individually as DFS learns about any special additional requirements for them. One example is the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS). The requirements for NSEERS are separate from, and in addition to, the other requirements in this booklet.

Arrange Correct Documents for Any Family Dependents with F-2 Visa Status:

F-1 students, who have F-2 spouses or children, must maintain SEVIS records for those F-2 dependents and must arrange a separate Form I-20 for each F-2 dependent. The F-1 student must notify a PDSO at DFS in writing of any changes in the SEVIS information for his or her F-2 dependents, including any legal change of an F-2's name or nationality, early departure from the United States, or change of dependent status as in cases of divorce, death, or a child's attainment of age 21.

Keep Your Old Documents:

Most students who first entered the United States before August 2003 will have old documents, such as the kind of Form I-20 that was used before the existence of SEVIS. Although the old forms are no longer useful for entering the United States, or, for applications to USCIS, students with the old forms should keep them in case they are needed in the future for historical information or evidence of status.

Please Plan Ahead:

Please remember to make plans in advance for your legal and other arrangements. Plan your money for bills as they will come each month, each quarter, or each year. Plan to contact your government early for arrangements such as passport renewal, currency exchange authorization, or military deferment, because these sometimes require more time than expected. United States government procedures and MCOM procedures also take time, so plan ahead for certification letters, confirmation forms, practical training applications, and other assistance you may want. You are welcome to visit a DFS Dean of Foreign Students if you would like help with your planning for the future.

Dr. Duckin Suh, Midwest College Dean of Foreign Students
duckinsuh@acupuncture.edu