F-1 visas are only issued in U.S. embassies and consulates, although extensions of stay and changes of status may be possible within the United States.
An institution can acquire SEVP certification by filing Form I-17 with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (this is a one-time process).
[11] Conversely, an institution may hold national or regional accreditation but may have chosen not to obtain SEVP certification if it does not intend to admit international students in the F, J, or M status.
Each international office may follow its own rules or guidelines regarding the type of documentation it requests from the student or from other departments in order to be able to issue the I-20.
[16] The international office may refuse to issue a Form I-20 if the student is unable to demonstrate how he or she plans to cover expenses for the first year.
[17] This fee applies both to people who are not currently in the United States (and need a visa) and to those who plan to change status using Form I-539.
For instance, the process generally takes 3–6 months, which can be considerably longer than traveling outside the United States and getting a new visa.
In addition, there is a grace period of 60 days after the completion of studies to depart the United States.
[22][28][29] The exception to "D/S" is in cases where the student's documentation is not considered complete or satisfactory by the officer at the port of entry.
[37] Examples of unforeseen circumstances that may be eligible include loss of financial aid due to no fault of the student, loss of on-campus employment through no fault of the student, substantial fluctuations in currency value or exchange rate, inordinate increases in tuition or living costs, unexpected changes in the financial condition of the student's source of support, and substantial unexpected medical bills.
[38] A student experiencing such a severe economic hardship due to unforeseen circumstances may request employment authorization by sending Form I-765, a copy of the student's Form I-20 including the employment page completed by the designated school official, and documentation of the severe economic hardship due to unforeseen circumstances to U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Rather, if somebody intends to take a lengthy leave of absence, then their institution terminates their SEVIS record for "Authorized Early Withdrawal".
[42] If the Form I-20 is being extended, then, in addition to any evidence from the student about changed academic plans, the international office also needs an updated statement of financial resources for the new I-20 to cover up to one year of the I-20 extension.
It is not possible to extend the program end date simply in order to be able to stay around till the graduation ceremony.
The purpose of this requirement is to avoid cases where people who are no longer enrolled as students at an institution keep using an outdated Form I-20 to get in.
On the other hand, since many students get multi-year, multi-entry visas, and a new visa needs to be issued only when the person travels outside the United States, this number is less than the total number of students in that status currently present in the United States.
In Fiscal Year 2012:[54] The Institute of International Education maintains data on the number of international students as part of its Open Doors project, supported from a grant by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs in the U.S. Department of State.
[60] As a result, starting around this time, the majority of noncitizens coming to the United States for study did so on student visas.
The Immigration and Nationality Act Amendments of 1981 created the M visa for people engaged in vocational (nonacademic) courses.
[29][67][68][69] A memorandum from the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Investigative Agency Policies to the Deputy Attorney General dated September 24, 1994, mentioned the need to subject foreign students to thorough and continuing scrutiny before and during their stay in the United States.
[69] As a result of these findings, the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA) directed the Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretary of State, to develop and conduct a program to collect certain information on nonimmigrant foreign students and exchange visitors from approved institutions of higher education and designated exchange visitor programs.
The original intent of IPASS was to help with the evaluation of suspicious visa applications in subjects that had implications for national security.
[84] On July 6, 2020, ICE partially rolled back the temporary modifications, with the rollback effective from the autumn (fall) of 2020.
[89][90] At the start of the 2020s, several states, most notably California, passed legislation that would allow college athletes to monetize their name, image, and likeness (NIL).
An immigration attorney interviewed for a June 2021 ESPN story suggested that the final outcome could be a court case in which an international student challenged NCAA rules barring that individual from NIL benefits, or ICE attempted to deport a college athlete for accepting NIL income.
[91][92] A November 2021 story by the ESPN-owned web outlet FiveThirtyEight pointed out that the key distinction in whether an international student-athlete could profit from NIL deals is the type of visa the individual holds.
Student-athletes who hold green cards, giving them the right to permanently live and work in the U.S., are able to fully profit from NIL deals, with the story specifically citing Jamaica-born Illinois All-American basketball center Kofi Cockburn as such an example.
The story also noted that a significant number of the most marketable student-athletes from an NIL standpoint were international, specifically citing Nebraska basketball, in which the men's and women's players with the largest social media followings at the start of the 2021–22 season were respectively Keisei Tominaga from Japan and Jaz Shelley from Australia.
[107] F-2 status holders cannot legally work in the United States, and therefore do not have any income tax obligations.
The employer issues a Form W-2 at the end of the year documenting the total income and withheld federal and state taxes.