Sometimes, students do not finish their academic programs in the time frame indicated on their Form I-20 or Form DS-2019 and it becomes necessary to extend their legal status in the U.S. in order to complete their programs.
Eligibility
To be eligible for an extension, the following is necessary:
- the student must be maintaining his or her status as a full-time student in accordance with immigration and institutional definitions (for more information on this, please refer to the section on required enrollment)
- the student must be making reasonable progress towards their degree - as determined by their academic advisor and/or their Dean's office.
- the student must demonstrate their financial ability to cover the additional time.
Process
The extension process is not difficult and is fairly straightforward:
- The student downloads and completes the extension request form.
- The student meets with his/her academic advisor to discuss their academic program and to arrive at an estimated completion date by which the student will finish, in a reasonable time frame, the degree/program requirements.
- The academic advisor completes and signs his/her portion of the form and provides an explanation as to why the additional time is needed.
- The student brings the completed form and evidence of his or her financial support to the Office of International Services.
- OIS will review the request and, if approvable will notify the government of the extension and will generate new immigration documents. If there is a problem or if further clarification is needed OIS will contact the student and/or the advisor to discuss the problem.