Special Notes for F-1 & F-3 Students
Change of Address
As an international student in F-1 or F-3 status, you are required by United States law to update your address within 10 days of any move. This is particularly true of students living in the U.S. It also includes students on Optional Practical Training (OPT).
You can change your address by submitting a change of address form to the Office of International Programs in person, by mail, by fax or by scan / e-mail.
If you don’t update your U.S. address, it can be considered a violation of your status, and could cause problems for future applications of immigration benefits, including change of status.
Temporary Absence
Sometimes, international students may need to take a short break from their studies. For example, some students have family emergencies and need to return to their home countries to help. Other students may need to work for a semester to save money and be able to pay for tuition or need time off to think about what they really want to study.
If you have a situation like this, you may want to request a “temporary absence” from the Office of International Programs. The temporary absence allows the OIP to temporarily maintain your student immigration status and your I-20 in an active status while you are outside the United States. You may only be outside the U.S. for up to 5 months.
Here are the rules you must follow during a temporary absence:
- From the time you request the absence, you are allowed only 15 days to depart the U.S. as a student
- You must turn in your I-94 at the port of exit upon leaving the U.S.
- You MAY NOT use your student visa to enter the U.S. during your absence
- You MAY NOT be registered in classes in the U.S. nor live in the U.S. during your absence
- You MUST return to the U.S. within 5 months of submitting your request to the OIP to keep your immigration status and begin classes at the next available session
- You are not allowed to remain in the U.S. during the temporary absence, but you can return within 30 days of the next semester
- Any absence from the U.S. of more than 5 months will require you get a new visa
You are eligible to choose a temporary departure if you are have already begun your studies in the U.S., have an active I-20 / SEVIS record, and are a full-time student.
The temporary departure is not available to students that have not yet entered the US with their I-20s. In this case, the student should contact the OIP and the admissions office that processed their application to request a deferral of their program start date.
If you are interested in requesting a temporary departure, you need to go to the Office of International Programs to meet with an advisor and fill out the request form. Graduate students must also obtain approval from the UTEP Graduate School.
As mentioned above, you will need to return to the U.S. to continue your studies within 5 months of your absence:
- If you take the fall semester off, you must return and enroll for the spring semester.
- If you take the spring semester off, you must return and enroll during the summer.
Undergraduates: you must enroll in 6 credit hours during the summer.
Graduate students: you must enroll in at least 3 credit hours during the summer
If you studied at UTEP in the spring semester, are planning to be outside the U.S. just for the summer, and you will return to UTEP in the fall semester, you do not need to request a temporary absence for the summer term.
You may choose to take a temporary absence either prior to the start of the semester when you will be absent, OR during the semester in which you will be absent.
You may take multiple temporary absences if necessary. However, you must return to your studies for at least one semester after each absence.
Mexican students: please note that you MAY use your tourist visa / visa laser to enter the U.S. FOR TOURIST PURPOSES ONLY during the temporary absence. If you plan to travel into the interior of the U.S with a tourist visa, you must obtain the appropriate I-94 / permission with a customs official at the bridge.
Concurrent Enrollment
Concurrent enrollment is simultaneous enrollment in more than one institution. Most UTEP students that participate in concurrent enrollment enroll in both UTEP and the El Paso Community College (EPCC).
A student may also enroll in another institution, if that school is DHS approved (that is, a school that can issue I-20s). For example, some students enroll in the University of Texas at Houston Health Science Center and attend the satellite campus at UTEP’s College of Health Sciences.
NOTE: you must enroll at the institution that issued the I-20 (usually UTEP). Undergraduates must take at least one 3-credit academic class (physical education classes do NOT count), and may take the remaining credits at EPCC, as long as they add up to 12 hours. If you have an EPCC I-20, please check with their International Office for current minimum enrollment requirements.
At the beginning of the semester, you must submit a copy of your EPCC / other institution’s course schedule to the Office of International Programs.
At the end of the semester, you must submit the official transcript from the other institution to the Office of International Programs. If that proof of completion is not turned in, your immigration status could be terminated.
Most institutions will insist that you get proof of your eligibility for concurrent enrollment. At UTEP, this takes the form of a stamp and signature on the third page of your I-20. Just like a request for a travel signature, you can drop off your I-20 before noon (12 pm), and the concurrent enrollment stamp will be done by 4 pm the same day unless we are missing some piece of information.
Concurrent enrollment at El Paso Community College is not encouraged for graduate students, since the courses do not count toward a graduate student’s degree progress. Graduate students may not count EPCC courses towards the credit hours needed to be enrolled full-time unless there are no other options for maintaining full-time enrollment after having dropped a UTEP graduate course.
Lost and Stolen Documents
If you have lost any of your immigration documents (passport, I-20, I-94, EAD card), you should immediately take action to find out how they can be replaced.
If you have lost your passport, and are from Mexico, you can easily go to the Mexican Consulate in downtown El Paso at 910 E. San Antonio Ave., El Paso, TX 79901. Students from other countries will need to locate the nearest embassy from their country and contact that embassy for instructions.
If a visa is lost, it’s usually with the loss of a passport, as the visas are attached to a passport page by strong adhesive. In order to replace a visa, you would need to exit the U.S. and request a new visa at a U.S. Consulate or Embassy. Before making such a trip, you should speak to an international student advisor and be aware of the risk involved in the case a new visa is not issued. It is not necessary to get a new visa to remain in the U.S., but you can’t leave and re-enter without one.
If you have lost your I-20, or it has been stolen, you must make a police report with the authorities that have control of the area where the document was lost. For example, if it was lost on the UTEP campus, you would report it to the Office of International Programs. The OIP would then contact the UTEP Police Department, request a report number, and fax the report to UTEP Police. If you lost your I-20 in El Paso but off-campus, you must report the incident with the El Paso Police Department. If your I-20 was lost or stolen in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico, the report must be made with the police officials in Ciudad Juarez.
A new I-20 may be printed only after you have submitted a copy of the corresponding report and an I-20 Request Form to the Office of International Programs. This is for your protection, in case someone else tries to use your documents later, so you can prove when you no longer had them.