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President Trump signed a new Executive Order (EO) today affecting travel of nonimmigrants from six countries: Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. Iraq has been removed from the list of the original executive order of January 27th. This order was blocked by federal judges on March 15th. Read this New York Times article for more information.

USCIS has announced that starting April 3, 2017, USCIS will temporarily suspend premium processing for all H-1B petitions. Premium processing refers to an expedited process, for an additional fee, for adjudicating petitions within 15 days. Regularly-filed petitions can take more than four months.

The provisions of the Executive Order (EO) are currently not in effect based on a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) that was executed on February 3rd, and upheld on February 9th by a federal appeals court.

The White House has indicated that they plan to issue a new, revised Executive Order instead of continuing the legal challenge of the one currently under a TRO.

The ISSO is pleased to announce our upcoming implementation of Compass, our new international case management software. To accommodate  this transition, our three locations will be closed March 13th - March 15th for the migration and staff training. We regret any inconvenience.

Suzanne Goldberg, Executive Vice President for University Life, presided over a University Life Forum on February 2nd on Executive Orders, Immigration and Our Community (watch here) and encourages you to take part in other campus conversations and resources.

Due to the weather, we will be closed today, Thursday, February 9th.

Please continue to check the Columbia Preparedness website and the Columbia homepage for updates.

In the wake of the presidential elections, many in our international community have concerns. There are two upcoming Town Hall meetings.

USCIS (Citizenship and Immigration Services) has announced a raise in fees, effective December 23, 2016, that include F-1 OPT applications and H-1B I-129 Petitions.

Make sure you know which documents you need to return from a trip abroad.

President Bollinger sent a message to the university community regarding the presidential election result.

Student Financial Services (SFS) advises that As of November 1, 2016, the University will no longer accept cash payments for student accounts. You can pay your tuition and other charges by check, wire, e-payment, Western Union, and money order.  Get prepared for November 1st and learn more about your payment options.  New students can open a U.S. bank account soon after arrival. See information at Your First Week

This is to reassure you that the recent ruling of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) holding that graduate students having appointments as teaching or research assistants are considered “employees” of the University and are eligible to vote to form a union will not and cannot affect your student visa status. 

Background:

On August 23rd, the NLRB decided that students studying at private universities may be treated as employees when are appointed to positions of teaching assistants or research assistants. This fall, the NLRB will decide which students are eligible to vote in the election. If you are eligible to vote, I encourage you to become informed and participate in the election. More detailed information about the NLRB decision can be found at unionization.provost.columbia.edu.

On-Campus Employment:

F-1 student visa regulations in the Code of Federal Regulations, 8CFR 214.2(f)(9)(i), regarding F-1 on-campus employment, do not speak specifically to the issue of an international student being a member of a union or considered an "employee" by the institution. Simply stated, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is not concerned with how NLRB defines international students in the U.S. (employees vs. non-employees). However, DHS is very strict on the issues of maintenance of legal non-immigrant status, and the limitation of hours of on-campus employment. For example, if an international student exceeds 20 hours per week of employment on-campus (for any reason) during the fall or spring semesters, the student is in violation of F-1 status. Please note that if Columbia graduate students vote to unionize, the union will not be able to establish conditions that would require international students to engage in employment on-campus for more than 20 hours per week during fall and spring semesters.

Key On-Campus Employment Regulations:

The on-campus employment regulations for students in F-1 status make several key points:

  • An F-1 international student who is otherwise maintaining legal non-immigrant status may be employed on-campus incident to status. This means that employment is authorized automatically on-campus as a part of the international student's F-1 status. No further authorization is needed.
  • F-1 students may not exceed 20 hours per week of on-campus employment while school is in-session in the fall and spring semesters. 
  • F-1 students may be employed full-time on-campus when school is not in-session or during the summer break.

Off-Campus Employment:

F-1 students may not be employed off-campus without permission. F-1 students are subject to federal restrictions regarding off-campus employment, and must follow carefully defined application procedures in order to be authorized for such employment. An international student’s being a member of a union (or considered an "employee" by the institution) has no bearing on these application procedures for off-campus employment. International students must abide by the terms of their non-immigrant student visas at all times.

Summary:

If graduate students at Columbia vote to unionize, the unionization will have no effect on an international student's F-1 (or J-1) immigration status as long as the student is otherwise maintaining legal non-immigrant status (i.e., must maintain full-time enrollment at all times during fall and spring semesters; must not exceed 20 hours per week of on-campus employment during the fall and spring semesters; must not engage in unauthorized off-campus employment, etc.). This is true for international graduate students who are Teaching Assistants or Research Assistants.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact an International Student Adviser at https://isso.columbia.edu/content/contact.

Best wishes for a successful fall semester at Columbia.

If you’re in F-1 status at Columbia as a student or on OPT after July 1, 2016, make sure you have the correct version of the I-20 when you travel. DHS implemented a new format I-20 on June 29, 2015 which must be used as of July 1, 2016. 

Check the bottom left-corner of your I-20. "ICE Form I-20 (3/31/2018)" should be printed there. 

We’re happy you made it here! Be sure to check out our information for Your First Week and Resources under Getting Started to help you settle in.

If you're in F or J status with an I-20 or DS-2019 issued by Columbia, please remember to report your arrival online. You do not need to come in person. 

We are excited to launch this new site and hope that you will find it easy to use. It's been a long and thorough process involving the work of many people at the ISSO and CUIT, but allow me to give a special shout-out to our talented and tireless Interactive Design Manager, Ben Canning-Pereira. He has done an amazing job making it all come together.

Help us help you! We welcome your feedback, and are always eager to improve the user experience. The feedback button is on the bottom right  corner of the page.