Very Important Documents Please do not lose any of these documents. Passport I-20 Form

Student responsibilities F-1 students’ main purpose for being in the US is to be a student. It is your responsibility to maintain your legal status while in the United States. Immigration regulations may change during your studies. Make sure to read emails sent to you by the McCulloch Center.

Maintaining your immigration status Maintain a valid passport Maintain a valid I-20 Form Maintain full time enrollment No unauthorized employment Obtain travel signatures Report address changes over summer session

maintain a valid passport Check to insure that your passport is still valid. Six months prior to your passport expiring, you should contact your country’s embassy in Washington, DC to start processing an extension. Keep it safe! If lost or stolen, report it to the police and to your embassy immediately If you have a valid visa in the expiring passport, your country will attach the expired passport to your new passport so you are still able to use the valid visa. They will invalidate all the other pages.

Maintain full time enrollment You must be registered as a full time student for every semester you are enrolled at MHC. -12 credits per semester If you need to drop below full-time enrollment (generally only allowed for documented medical reasons), you must see Jenny or Donna before dropping below full time. Failure to do this will result in our office having to notify the immigration service that you are out of legal immigration status.

YOUR RIGHTS IN THE UNITED STATES Criminal activity can impact your ability to enter the U.S. or remain in the U.S. Even an arrest without a conviction can cause you immigration problems If arrested, you will need a criminal defense lawyer who is also familiar with immigration law. You may need to hire an immigration attorney to work with your criminal defense attorney. You do not have to speak with the police without an attorney present

I-20 FORM Your responsibility to keep your Form I- 20 current Retain all Forms I-20 ever issued to you

I-94 Arrival/Departure You can print your I-94 card at the Customs and Border Protection website: https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/request.html You will need your name, date of birth, passport number, class of admission (for most F-1) If you are a transfer student and have not departed the US , you might still have the old version of the I-94 (white card in your passport). Please make sure to keep this in your passport it costs $300 to replace. You will give this form up the next time you depart the US and will be issued an electronic one upon re-entry.

US Visa Stamp

Travel signatures before leaving the U.s. You should bring in your I-20 form for a travel signature from either Jenny or Donna at least one week before you will be traveling outside the U.S. We will send reminder messages about this during peak travel times (fall break, December break, spring break, summer break) On page 2 of the I-20 it states that travel signatures are valid for one year so you will only need to have your I-20 form signed for travel once per year.

No unauthorized work On-Campus: If you are at MHC on the F-1 student visa, you can work on campus up to 20 hours a week when school is in session and full time during J Term and the summer. The Village Commons and Stony Brook Childcare are not considered on campus employment. Off-campus Employment: you can not accept any off-campus employment without permission from the Immigration Service or the McCulloch Center There are two types of off campus work permission for F-1 students but you will not be eligible for either until you have been enrolled in F-1 status for one full academic year and have a declared major. Any work you do off campus must be directly related to your academic major. We will have an information sessions on off campus employment during the spring semester. We will send reminder emails.

Applying for a Social Security Number Needed for application -Valid passport -I-20 form -Employment letter from on campus employer. Please visit our website for the template of this letter. It must be on the letterhead of the department you will be working for. -Support letter from McCulloch Center for Global Initiatives Representatives from the Social Security Administration will be on campus on Friday, September 23rd from 12:30pm-4pm in 318 Blanchard to accept applications for social security numbers. If you can not apply during this time, you will need to go to the SS Office in Holyoke at 200 High Street. There are no buses that go directly to this office (the Tiger trolley does go to Holyoke) and you will need to find your own transportation to get there if you are unable to apply on September 23rd.

COPYING OF VISA DOCUMENTS Please bring your visa documents (I-20 form, passport) to the McCulloch Center so we can make a copy for your file and for your social security application. You can bring them in Monday through Friday between 8:30-2:30

Income Tax Fines? Pay Too Much? Due Date? Who Files? Help? How Much? Underpay, Late filing, Fraudulent claim Pay Too Much? Get it back from employer or IRS Help? IRS Website www.irs.ustreas.gov The McCulloch Center purchases a software program that international students can use to do their federal taxes for free . Due Date? April 15 or June 15 for previous year Who Files? All international students, regardless of if you have worked or not How Much? Withholding according to W-4 Tax treaty benefits Social Security Withholding

If you are a citizen of one of the following countries, please come up front as we have another form for you to complete related to tax treaties. Bangladesh China France Germany Philippines Poland Russia South Korea Thailand