Don’t jeopardize your chance to remain at AUM! You must take a full course load during the academic year in order to keep your non-immigrant status. This means you must take at least:
To drop below full-time status during fall or spring semesters, you must request permission from the Office of Global Initiatives. Your advisor must complete a Reduced Course Load Form. If you drop below a full course of study without prior approval from the Office of Global Initiatives, you will be considered out of status.
Only 3 hours of online classes may be taken each semester to count towards full time enrollment.
Students may enroll concurrently at another university to satisfy degree requirements. Student may enroll at AUM and another university after receiving departmental, registrar and Office of Global Initiative’s approval.
Concurrent enrollment (transient student) must be approved prior to registration.
Concurrent enrollment is similar to online class registration. Only 3 hours of transient classes may be taken each semester to count toward full time enrollment. Documentation of approvals and transfer equivalencies must be provided to the Office of Global Initiatives prior to approval.
F-1 visa students must report their initial U.S. address and any subsequent change of address within 10 days of moving to the Global Initiatives Office; students with other non-immigrant visas (H-1B, E-1, or E-2) should report a change of address to the Department of Homeland Security.
Note: Homeland Security requires that an AR-11 Form be completed and sent in for any address change for any students other than F-1. For Homeland Security purposes, your local address, as registered in AUM’s Webster computer system, must be the physical location where you live and receive mail.
You must make sure your passport does not expire when you are outside of your country. That can be a violation of status, so you must extend a passport before it expires. Six months before the passport will expire, contact your nearest consulate or embassy or check its Web site for instructions and forms that are required. The U.S. government has a complete list of foreign embassies in the United States. Consulate locations are generally listed on each embassy’s Web site.
The Department of Homeland Security expects F-1 students to complete their studies on or before the date listed on their I-20 and to either leave the U.S., start a new program at AUM, process a transfer to another university or file for a change of status within the 60 days of completing the course of study.
If you need more time, you will need to process an extension by asking your academic advisor to complete the Program Extension Form. This document should be given to the Office of Global Initiatives in order to extend the program end date.
If you violate your status or break an immigration law, meet with the Office of Global Initiatives for assistance. It is best to understand the immigration laws that pertain to you and to follow them rather than to risk violating them and having to be reinstated. If you are out of status, you are ineligible for benefits such as on campus employment, graduate assistant-ships or practical training.
If you violate the terms of you status by:
You need to apply to the Department of Homeland Security for reinstatement.
You cannot apply for reinstatement when the violation of status involves unauthorized employment. Some violations of status can result in an automatic void of your student visa and bar you from re-entering the country for a few years.
Please make an appointment to see the International Student Services Coordinator by e-mailing [email protected] or calling 334-244-3922 to discuss whether or not reinstatement is the right step for you.
Once you and the coordinator have decided reinstatement is possible, you will be asked to prepare the following documents and return them to the Office of Global Initiatives.
Taylor Center 101
7400 East Drive Montgomery, AL 36117
8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday - Friday
334-244-3000
334-244-3795
[email protected]
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