COMING TO COLUMBIA: House North, between West 122nd Street and Tiemann Place. We are open from 9 am to 5 pm, Mondays through ESSENTIAL INFORMATION FOR NEW Fridays, except Wednesday mornings when we open at INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS 10:30 a.m. following a weekly staff meeting. The office is closed on weekends and University holidays. If you wish to contact us, please refer to the information below: We of the International Students and Scholars Office (ISSO) on the Morningside campus and the International Affairs Office (IAO) on the Medical Center campus join Courier 524 Riverside Drive with the faculty and staff in welcoming you to the Address: New York, NY 10027 University. Studying or working in a foreign country is both an exciting and a challenging experience. We offer Mailing 2960 Broadway, MC 5724 this on-line guide Coming to Columbia: Essential Address: New York, NY 10027 Information for New International Students to help you meet the challenge and enjoy the excitement of this very Telephone: 212 854-3587 dynamic environment. Facsimile: 212 854-3966 Website: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/isso For many of you, this will be your first time in New York Email: [email protected] City. You will experience the unexpected, both because this is a different culture and because this is one of the largest and fastest-moving cities in the world. The staff of the ISSO, for those on the Morningside campus, and the IAO, for those on the Medical Center campus, are available to help you with immigration issues as well as Walk-In Advisory Service everyday matters and problems. We work with more than The ISSO offers full advisory services during its normal six thousand students and scholars from more than one operating hours. International students and scholars with hundred forty countries and are aware that adjustment to questions or requests concerning visas, immigration, a new environment is neither easy nor the same for each travel, employment, or other matters relating to their stay person. We hope you will feel free to visit our offices and at Columbia are welcome to walk in to speak to a get to know us. Program Officer. Program Officers and other staff members may also be reached by telephone and email Coming to Columbia is designed to give you information for general inquiries and are available for appointments that will be helpful from the time you receive a Certificate on an individual basis. of Eligibility for either F-1 or J-I student status through your first few weeks in New York as you settle in. It con- The ISSO Website and On-Line Calendar of Events tains information about New York and Columbia you will The ISSO maintains a detailed and extensive site on the need for planning before you leave your home country as World Wide Web at www.columbia.edu/cu/isso. Students well as what you need to know soon after your arrival. and scholars interested in gaining more information about visa and immigration regulations, Columbia’s international Again, welcome to Columbia. We invite you to enjoy the community, and other related matters are encouraged to richness of New York City and extend to you our best view our website. Also included on the website is the wishes for a successful scholarly experience. ISSO’s On-Line Calendar of Events, offering detailed information about ISSO programs, workshops, visa and immigration deadlines, and social and cultural events About the ISSO throughout the New York City area. The ISSO serves the international students and scholars ISSOnews email broadcasts on the Morningside campus, including doctoral students Throughout the academic year, the ISSO provides in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and regular email broadcast messages to international students enrolled in the School of Public Health. Our students. These messages, referred to as ISSOnews, are office is located at 524 Riverside Drive in International 1 automatically distributed to currently-enrolled students About the IAO registered as international students (i.e. not U.S. citizens or permanent residents) at Columbia. You are respon- The International Affairs Office (IAO) serves the sible for reading the ISSOnews, as it is our primary immigration-related needs of students and scholars at the vehicle for distributing timely and important information Columbia University Medical Center (with the exception concerning visa, immigration, and related matters. The of students in the Mailman School of Public Health and messages also remind you of informational sessions GSAS, who are clients of the ISSO). Staff members of taking place, perhaps a change in location, and also the IAO assist prospective and enrolled international some social programs or cultural events at Columbia and students and scholars with initial and continuing visa in NYC that may be of interest to you. documentation. Throughout the year the IAO sponsors informative programs and workshops. The IAO broad- You will be able to receive the ISSOnews once you casts monthly announcements updating students on register for classes and obtain a University email account immigration issues and inviting them to join programs, (e.g., an email account which takes the format workshops and activities. Students are also encouraged ([email protected]). Email accounts are maintained to take advantage of social, cultural, and other activities by Academic Information Services (AcIS), and require a offered by the ISSO. University Network ID (UNI), both of which can be obtained at Office and Courier 650 West 168th St., Room 1-126B http://www.columbia.edu/acis/accounts/create/current.ht Address: NY, NY 10032 ml. Mailing Address: 630 West 168th Street, Box 27 If you use a private email address (e.g., New York, NY 10032. [email protected]) or a departmental email address (e.g., [email protected]), you must arrange to Telephone: 212 305-5455 have your email forwarded automatically from your Facsimile: 212 305-5208 University email account to your private or departmental account. ISSOnews is sent to University email accounts Walk-in hours are Monday to Friday, 11am-5pm at in the only, so please be sure to arrange to have your email Black Building, room 1-126B. forwarded. See http://www.columbia.edu/acis/email/delivery/forward.html for instructions on email forwarding. Because the ISSO listserv is “populated” through a central university system, and not by the ISSO database, occasionally some students may be mistakenly classified in the University Registrar’s student registration system as a non-international student. If you have registered for the semester and you have NOT received an ISSOnews message, please contact or email the ISSO so we may check and amend your record, if necessary. 2 Visa and Immigration Basics DS-2019). The Form I-94 is also a record of your arrivals and departures. Each time you leave the country you surrender your I-94. Only in the case of short trips to Immigration Definitions for Canada, Mexico, and parts of the Caribbean do you keep Students this form. The I-94 is an important form; we recommend that you make a photocopy of both sides of the form to It is very important that you become familiar with the keep separately in case you need to replace it. following terms, as they are used repeatedly in Coming to Columbia and other information from the International Form I-20 - The Certificate of Visa Eligibility for Students and Scholars Office. It is essential that you Nonimmigrant F-1 Student Status is commonly known as understand these definitions, not just as you prepare to the I-20. This is the document issued by a school through come, but throughout your stay in the United States. the internet-based Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) for presentation at a U.S. Certificate of Visa Eligibility - Students who (1) have consulate abroad to apply for an F-1 Student visa; it must been admitted to the University, (2) need a student visa also be presented to an immigration official upon entry to enter the United States to study at Columbia (except into the U.S. When traveling outside the U.S., those in F- Canadian citizens who do not require a passport or visa), 1 status must carry either an initial or recertified I-20 and and (3) have documented their ability to finance their financial documentation if they intend to return to the U.S. education, will receive a Certificate of Visa Eligibility to continue their studies or practical training. The I-20 and (Form I-20 or DS-2019). This document certifies eligibility its corresponding electronic updates in SEVIS are a per- for an entry visa obtained at a U.S. consulate abroad, and manent record of one's activities as a student in the U.S. must be shown to a Department of Homeland Security It is your responsibility to keep all I-20's issued to you (DHS) official at the time of entry into the U.S. in order to throughout your student status, no matter how long you enter in student status. Also known as a Visa Certificate, stay in the U.S. or how many times you travel abroad. the I-20 or DS-2019 are processed and issued through The initial I-20 used when you enter the country and SEVIS. stamped by the DHS is a very important immigration document. Make a copy of both sides to keep with your SEVIS - SEVIS is an acronym for Student and Exchange records. If you were not issued an I-20, or if you lose it, Visitor Information System. It is a data collection and please come to the ISSO or the IAO.