How to Maintain Your F1 Status

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.

Undergraduate students must enroll in 9 hours of classes on the AUM campus and 3 hours may be taken online to count towards full time enrollment of 12 hours. A student may enroll in more than 3 hours online each semester, but only 3 hours will count towards full time enrollment.

Graduate students must enroll in 6 hours of classes on AUM campus and all 6 hours must be taken face to face to count towards full time enrollment of 6 hours.

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.