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

Very Important Documents
O I-20 Form
O Passport
Please do not lose any of these documents. They
can be hard to replace and can be costly.
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
O Check to insure that your passport is still valid.
O Six months prior to your passport expiring, you should
contact your country’s embassy in Washington, DC to
start processing an extension. You can find
information on your country’s embassy contact
information at www.embassy.org
O 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
O You must be registered as a full time student for every
semester you are enrolled at MHC.
-12 credits per semester for most students
-8 credits for Foreign and Language Fellows
 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.
I-94 Arrival/Departure Card
O You can print your I-94 card at the Customs and
Border Protection website:
https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/request.html
O You will need your name, date of birth, passport
number, class of admission (for most F-1)
O
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
I-20 Form
Travel signatures before
leaving the U.S.
O 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.
O We will send reminder messages about this during
peak travel times (fall break, December break,
spring break, summer break)
O On page 3 of the I-20 is states that travel signatures
are valid for one year. However, we have found that
if you are traveling outside the US more regularly,
the immigration officers would like to see
signatures for each semester.
No unauthorized work
O 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.
O Off-campus Employment: you can not accept any off-campus
employment without permission from the Immigration Service or the
McCulloch Center
O 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 related to your academic major.
O 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
O 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, February 21st from 12:30pm-2pm 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 February 21st.
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 – Friday
between 8:30-2:30
Income Tax
O Due Date?
O April 15 or June 15 for
previous year
O Who Files?
O All international students,
spouses and children over
14 years regardless of if
you have worked or not
O How Much?
O Withholding according to W4
O Tax treaty benefits
O Social Security Withholding
O Fines?
O Underpay, Late filing,
Fraudulent claim
O Pay Too Much?
O Get it back from employer
or IRS
O Help?
O IRS Website
www.irs.ustreas.gov
O Glacier Software Free to
International Students
Box ____Blanchard Student Center
South Hadley, MA 01075