Santa Clara University

Following its recent announcement on March 11, 2011, providing relief for Japanese and other nationals from the Pacific stranded in the U.S. due to the earthquake and tsunami disaters in Japan, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a reminder that lists some specific immigration benefits available to Japanese nationals upon request.

Temporary relief measures may include:

• The grant of an application for change or extension of nonimmigrant status for an individual currently in the United States, even when the request is filed after the authorized period of admission has expired;
• Expedited adjudication and approval, where possible, of requests for off-campus employment authorization for F-1 students experiencing severe economic hardship;
• Expedited processing of immigrant petitions for immediate relatives of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents (LPRs);
• Expedited employment authorization where appropriate; and,
• Assistance to LPRs stranded overseas without immigration documents such as Green Cards. USCIS and the Department of State will coordinate on these matters when the LPR is stranded in a place that has no local USCIS office.
• Visitors traveling under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP):
• If you are at an airport, contact the U.S. Customs and Border Protection office at the airport
• All others, please visit the local U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office
• Visitors traveling under a nonimmigrant visa:
• Visit the local U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office
• Bring your passport, evidence that you are stranded (such as an itinerary for the canceled flight), and your I-94 departure record

For additional immigration relief options, please visit the Special Situations web page.

03/17/11: Travel Warning – Japan

The U.S. Department of State warns U.S. citizens of the deteriorating situation at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) recommends that U.S. citizens who live within 50 miles (80 km) of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant evacuate the area or take shelter indoors if safe evacuation is not practical. The State Department strongly urges U.S. citizens to defer travel to Japan at this time and those in Japan should consider departing.  This Travel Alert supersedes the Travel Alert for Japan dated March 13, 2011, to provide updated information on planned power outages, the evacuation of areas near nuclear power facilities in Fukushima, and the likelihood of further aftershocks and tsunamis. This Travel Alert expires on April 1, 2011.  You can read more by visiting the following link: http://japan.usembassy.gov/e/acs/tacs-travel20110317.html

Nonimmigrant visa processing in Japan

The following message was posted on the Web site of the U.S. embassy in Tokyo, on March 15, 2011: "Due to the recent earthquake, we are only able to process emergency visa cases. Unless you need to travel to the U.S. in March, or are applying for a F, M or J visa and have already scheduled your appointment for this week, please reschedule your appointment for a later date."  For further information please visit the following link: http://japan.usembassy.gov/e/visa/tvisa-important.html

01/12/11: Join us for our first coffee morning to kick off the new year!

The event will take place on 01/12/11 in the Writing Center (located in the basement of Benson Memorial Center), from the hours of 10-11 A.M.

If interested in attending, please RSVP to Christina Favela (cfavela@scu.edu) at your earliest convenience. We look forward to seeing you there!

10/25/10: I-20 Timeline

We are currently in the process of generating the I-20 document for our incoming Winter students. We ask for you to allow us five working days to process your information and generate this document.

If you are entering SCU in the Spring quarter we will begin generating the I-20 document beginning mid-November. 

Graduate Engineer students, please note: We will receive your I-20 request form and supporting documents from your program. You do not need to submit these documents again to ISS.

10/20/10:  Join us for our first Coffee Morning of the Fall Quarter!

All current SCU international students and their spouses are invite to attend our Fall quarter coffee morning. This is an informal gathering in which we will discuss topics of interest for international students, future topics to be decided by participants. It is also a great chance to meet and mingle with other international students.

The event will take place on 10/20/2010 in the Writing Center (located in the basement of Benson Memorial Center), from the hours of 10-11 A.M.

If interested in attending, please RSVP to Christina Favela (cfavela@scu.edu).

9/2/10:  CHECK-IN SESSIONS

All students beginning in the Fall must Check-in with ISS upon arrival to the U.S. To Check-in you will need to bring your I-20, passport, and I-94 card. 

Please stop by at your earliest convenience to one of our Check-in sessions Monday through Friday from 12 pm - 3 pm. If these times do not work for you and would like to schedule an appointment, please contact our student intern, Christina Favela, at 408-551-7037 or CFavela@scu.edu .

7/8/10:  CO-OP REGISTRATIONS DURING SUMMER

3/1/10:  I-765 ADDRESS CHANGE:

Beginning NOW, I-765 application must be sent to a designated USCIS Lockbox facility.  Applications will be reviewed and sorted at the Lockbox facility, and complete applications will be forwarded on to the appropriate Service Center for processing.
Lockbox locations for filing the I-765 for F-1 Optional Practical Training applications are as follows if you live in California:   Mail your application to:   USCIS Phoenix Lockbox
For U.S. Postal Service (USPS) deliveries:
USCIS
PO Box 21281
Phoenix, AZ 85036   For Express mail and courier deliveries:
USCIS
Attn:  AOS
1820 E. Skyharbor Circle S
Suite 100
Phoenix, AZ 85034

3/30/09: ATTENTION INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS: Please note that international students working on campus cannot work more than 20 hours per week while school is in session. Working more than 20 hours per week can jeopardize your F-1 status.

11/11/08:  FORM I-765 UPDATE

If you will be applying for Optional Practical Training (OPT), please be sure that the I-765 form you submit has the following revised date on it: 10/16/08. No previous editions will be accepted by USCIS.

09/26/08:  STUDENT AND EXCHANGE VISITOR PROGRAM (SEVP) FEE INCREASES

Please note that Congress has mandated a fee increase to support the Student Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP). As such, the new I-901 SEVIS Fee will increase from $100 to $200 and will be implemented on October 27th, 2008 (30 days after rule publication). Most applicants for admission to F-1 and J-1 programs in the United States must pay a SEVIS fee to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The fee is generally be paid before an application for a visa can be made. For more information about this fee (also called the I-901 fee), please visit the following web page: http://www.ice.gov/sevis/i901/index.htm

07/18/08:  Please note that the eligibility code for an F-1 student seeking Optional Practical Training (OPT)has been changed.   The eligibility code (c)(3)(i) is no longer being used and has been replaced with the following three codes: (c)(3)(A) for pre-completion OPT, (c)(3)(B) for post-completion OPT, and (c)(3)(C) for a 17-month extension for an F-1 student who has received a degree in Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics (STEM), that appears on the STEM designated Degree Program List published on the SEVP website available through the Related Links on this page.

06/24/08:  CO-OP REGISTRATIONS DURING SUMMER 

Co-op Program registrations for eligible Engineering students will not be available for these two periods during the summer:  July 16-25 and August 18-29.  The reason for this is limited staff availability during the summer due to vacation schedules. 

To process your co-op paperwork outside of these dates, please contact Enzie Lagattuta in the Career Center at elagattuta@scu.edu or 408-554-4420.

06/24/08: Please disregard this notice if you are not currently on OPT or if you are NOT interested in applying for OPT in the near future.  New USCIS regulations now mandate that students on post-completion OPT need to report the following information to their DSOs (Designated School Officials)

1) Employers' Name and Address

2) Any change in your home address

3) Any periods of unemployment while on OPT

In addition, our office will need a copy of your EAD card on file. You may fax this to our office at (408 554-2709) or email us the information.  It is crucial that you notify us of any changes in the above information during your time on OPT.

Under the new interim OPT rule, during the post-completion OPT period, F-1 student status is dependent upon employment. As a result, during any initial 12-month period of post-completion OPT, no student may be unemployed for an aggregate of more than 90 days. Otherwise the I-20 becomes INVALID.

03/02/07:  Updated Form I-765:  The latest edition of Form I-765 (02/08/07) should now be used for all employment authorization document (EAD) filings. The USCIS Web site says that the prior, 11/20/06, edition of the form will be accepted only until March 30, 2007. After that date, only the 02/08/07 version of Form I-765 will be accepted. It can be found at: http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/I-765.pdf

06/30/06:  New I-901 International Phone Number: Effective June 30, 2006, the toll-free telephone number for international I-901 SEVIS fee customers will be (212) 620-3418. Customers will no longer be able to use the previous toll-free telephone number after that date.  International Students may call the toll-free number for all questions regarding the I-901 SEVIS fee that cannot be answered after viewing the information available at http://www.ice.gov/sevis/i901/index.htm .  Please note that the toll-free number is for international callers only and is available during the following business hours: Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

09/02/04:  The SEVIS I-901 fee went into effect September 1, 2004. The payment website at www.fmjfee.com is operational. New students and exchange visitors with a Form I-20 or Form DS-2019 issued on or after September 1, 2004 are subject to the fee. Continuing students and exchange visitors are not required to pay the fee except under certain circumstances. For complete information on who needs to pay the fee (or does not need to) see the SEVP website at http://www.ice.gov/graphics/sevis/i901/faq.htm. There is a complete list of questions and answers on all aspects of SEVIS I-901 fee payment.

08/07/03:  Students applying for OPT can request for an Interim EAD card if you have waited for over 90 days. However, if you have been approved for the OPT, the Interim EAD card will not be issued to you. Applicants may check their OPT application status at https://egov.immigration.gov/graphics/cris/jsps/caseStat.jsp

02/14/03:  SEVIS is an Internet-based computer system that will enable schools and program sponsors to transmit electronic information and event notifications to BCIS and the Department of State throughout the stay of a foreign or exchange student in the United States. Please visit the above link to learn more about this new tracking system.

11/18/02:  Special Call-in Procedures for Certain Nonimmigrant Aliens and such nonimmigrant aliens have to fill out a Special Registration AR-11 form when reporting a change of address to the BCIS.

07/15/02:  Please inform BCIS of a change of address within 10 days of such change. The Change of Address Card (AR-11) is available for printout here. This is an important part of Maintaining F-1 Status.