Immigration Information Update

DIVERSITY IMMIGRANT VISA (Green Card) LOTTERY (DV-2004)

Once again it is time for the annual diversity lottery.  Section 203(c) of the Immigration Act of 1990 makes available up to 50,000 permanent resident immigrant visas each year by random selection through a Diversity Visa lottery (DV-2004). The DV-2004 registration mail-in period will be held between Noon on Monday, October 7, 2002 and Noon on Wednesday, November 6, 2002. PLEASE NOTE: Entries received before noon on October 7th or after noon on November 6th will be discarded!  Complete instructions regarding one's eligibility and the simple means through which one enters the lottery can be obtained from the following U.S. Department of State website: http://travel.state.gov/DV2004.html  Some countries are eligible; some countries including PR China and India are not. You must check the U.S. Department of State web site for the current countries listing. Note also that, generally, your country of birth, not your country of citizenship, determines your eligibility. The web sites provide details and exceptions. Additionally, please know that the Department of State change information on these web sites throughout the year to reflect the current status of the lottery program. The mailing address for all entries is different this year, please see the U.S. Department of State web site above. Also, all entries must be submitted by regular or airmail to the address matching the region of the applicant’s country of NATIVITY. Entries sent by express or priority mail, second day airmail, fax, hand, messenger, or any means requiring special handling will NOT be processed. Be sure you follow all instructions regarding the mailing related to the format of the entry form and the envelope used for mailing.  PLEASE NOTE: persons who are subject to the J-1/J-2 Two-year Home Country Physical Presence requirement may be deemed ineligible even if they win the lottery.   

INCREASE IN U.S. NON-IMMIGRANT VISA FEES 

Effective November 1, 2002 an interim rule will raise the fee charged for a non-immigrant visa (NIV) from $65 to $100.  The Department of State deems the higher fee necessary.  As a result of increased background checks, the processing of NIV applications, becomes more labor intensive and time consuming.  This increase does not affect the reciprocity fees that certain internationals have to pay in addition to the application fee.

SEVIS

Some of you may have heard about a new mandatory reporting system, called SEVIS, that US universities will use to report international student information to the INS. Although the regulations have not been finalized and published yet, we do expect them to become effective in the very near future. When we know what they are, we will post details and links on our website, will mail something out, and host several large group information sessions. This program is expected to affect F-1 and J-1 students/scholars only at this time. Stay tuned.

Student Reminders  

FULL-TIME ENROLLMENT

F-1 and J-1 students must maintain fulltime enrollment to maintain nonimmigrant status. There are very few exceptions and these must be approved in advance by OISSS. The general rule is 9 hours for graduate students and 12 hours for undergraduate students. F-1 or J-1 students who drop below full-time status without previous approval from OISSS must be considered out of lawful nonimmigrant status with a subsequent loss of all benefits derived from that status, including employment eligibility. Students in non student-visa status have no immigration requirement to be full-time, but all students should check with their academic advisor or Director of Graduate Programs to ensure all University and departmental policies are understood and met.

EMPLOYMENT REMINDER

Reminder: NC State F-1 and J-1 students must be very careful to limit on-campus employment to 20 hours per week when classes are in session. New monitoring of all on-campus employment will begin this semester by Human Resources and if students work more than the 20 hour per week maximum, it will be reported with the result that all appointments will be terminated (with cancellation of health insurance and tuition remission for those on the Graduate Student Support Plan) and the violation must be reported to the INS. Please be careful and remember your responsibility in following your immigration requirements - there is nothing OISSS advisors will be able to do assist students who choose to work more than 20 hours per week.

PROGRAM EXTENSION

An F-1 or J-1 student is admitted to the United States for Duration of Status (D/S).  D/S is defined as the time during which a student is pursuing a full-course of study and making progress towards completion, or while engaging in authorized F-1 practical training (plus 60 days to depart the U.S. for F-1 students) or J-1 academic training (plus 30 days to depart for J-1 students).   Therefore if a student is unable to complete his/her program of study by the date of completion listed in item #5 on the Form I-20 (F-1) or item #3 on the Form IAP-66 (J-1); he/she must apply for a program extension: A student is eligible to apply for an extension of stay if he/she has maintained full-time student status, is making satisfactory progress towards his/her degree, has adequate funding (A J-1 student must show funding for the duration of his/her program) for the remainder of the program, has done nothing to violate the terms of his/her non-immigrant status and is maintaining a valid passport. 

TRAVEL

Students who will be going home for the summer or traveling abroad must have an OISSS adviser endorse his/her Form I-20 or IAP-66 (if NCSU is the J-1 Sponsor) for re-entry.  It is also advised that students take with them an official transcript and updated financial documents. For more detailed information please refer to our website http://www.ncsu.edu/oisss/students/travel.htm

SPEAKING UP AND GETTING INVOLVED

All international students are encouraged to become involved in the larger university and surrounding communities. Some of you have joined the various OISSS programs and are already making  a positive difference in the lives of others. Several of you have stepped up and have taken leadership roles in student government, various student associations, and other avenues of service. Some of your international student representatives are: Roxana Toma, Pradeep Kalla, Anuj Dhawan, Rajeev Ramanath, and Karthik Sundaramoorthy. Roxana has been elected to be the International Student Representative to the Chancellor’s Student Liaison committee. Rajeev, Anuj, and Karthik are all leaders in the University Graduate Student Association – Anuj is also the Vice Chair for the Diversity Committee in Student Government and Rajeev also serves on the University Standing Committee on International Programs. Pradeep is your representative on the Student Health Insurance Committee.

If you have suggestions or things you would like to bring to the attention of the University administration or the UGSA or others, please contact them. Contact information for the other international student leaders can be found here. We need more of you to put forth your energy, perspective, and creativity – get involved!

Program Information 

ORIENTATION TEAM SPRING 2003!  OISSS is seeking out really cool, energetic students to help plan the New International Student Orientation on January 7, 2003. :-) To learn more, please contact Elizabeth Rose, OISSS Programs Coordinator at Elizabeth_Rose@ncsu.edu.

EXPLORING EUROPE!  Friday, October 25. 12:00-1:00pm, Caldwell Hall Lounge.  Sponsored by OISSS and the Foreign Language Department.  Seven presentations by American & international students on the diversity of social culture, politics, economics, and traveling in Europe!  Please come and explore Europe with us on October 25th!

VOLUNTEER PROJECT for November:  Habitat for Humanity!  Contact Elizabeth Rose if you're interested in joining a group of int'l and American students on a Saturday to build a house for a low-income family.  Tons of fun & very rewarding!!

Seeking int'l females to join the International Friendship Program!!  Be matched with an American female for the year and get together once a month (for shopping, dinner, movies, etc.)  Contact Elizabeth Rose if interested.

Delta Kappa Gamma Scholarship $500 award to the SPOUSE of a full-time student towards a class at a Triangle college or university.  Applications must be postmarked by November 2 and are available in 204 Daniels.

We will be having our first International Scholar Brown Bag lunch of this semester on October 31st.  Come join us for lunch and celebrate Halloween (costumes optional!).  OISSS would like to take this opportunity to more personally greet the new scholars and catch up with our continuing scholars. This will be a great break from your work and research and a way to meet other scholars in Daniels Hall Room 228 from 12-1 PM.  

The annual INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL will be held November 8 -10 at the NC State Fairgrounds.  Volunteers for 2 hours at the OISSS Programs table and your admission is free!  Anyone interested in volunteering should contact OISSS.

Attention all International Graduate Students and International Scholars!!!!

Start planning now for the 5th Annual NC State University International Research Exposition, scheduled to take place in March 2003. Sponsored each year by OISSS this event is a great opportunity to highlight the outstanding research being undertaken by the international community at NC State. If you think you have an interesting and novel topic, plan on participating in the Exposition!  There are various ways you can choose to present: by a poster session, a multi media event, an interactive activity - anything which you feel will demonstrate your research in an interesting and informative manner to invited guests and fellow participants. OISSS will notify Deans and Department Heads later this month to request nominations for international scholars in their colleges and departments to participate in this event. It is not too early to start thinking about your presentation now!  The nomination forms and further instructions on how to participate in the Research Expo are available on our website at www.ncsu.edu/oisss/resources/expo.htm.  Help show the university and local community the valuable research being undertaken by internationals at NC State!

Website Updates

We have updated our website this summer and welcome you to visit often.  We hope to keep our site constantly updates, so that information affecting our international population will be quickly disseminated.  Please feel free to offer your comments and suggestions on improving the site.  

In Memoriam