Maintaining Your Status

Enrollment

An important part of maintaining your immigration status is ensuring that you’re enrolled in a full course of study. That means that for the entire semester your credits cannot go under the minimum amount required. Please note that certain scholarships may require you to be enrolled in more credits such as 15 credits for undergraduate students to maintain your eligibility.

• Undergraduate Students: 12 credits
• Graduate Students: 9 credits

In addition to maintaining your minimum amount of credits, you are also limited to the amount of online courses you can take. International students are only allowed one online course per semester.

Communication

In order to maintain your status as an international student at Albertus, you must maintain regular communication with Albertus international staff when any of the following information is changed or updated.*

• U.S. Address
• Foriegn Address
• Phone number
• Name change

*Changes must be reported to Albertus international staff within 10 days of the change.

I-20 Facts

Your I-20 is a legal document. If anything changes on your I-20 such as your legal name, your program of study, you must notify the DSO so they can update it. Make sure you review each new I-20 you get for accuracy.

Every I-20 should be kept in a safe place with only the active I-20 (most up to date) needed when traveling outside the country or for proof of identity. If you lose your I-20 contact the Albertus international staff right away.

Registration 

Once you arrive and attend classes your I-20 will be registered. When your I-20 is registered it’s communicating to the government that you are abiding by regulations by maintaining full time enrollment. Every semester your I-20 will be registered and you will receive an updated copy.

Major / Minor Changes

If you update your major or minor please notify the Albertus international staff within 10 days. Your I-20 will be updated and you will receive a new copy.

Travel Signature

As an international student it’s mandatory to take your I-20 with you when traveling outside the country. In order to return to the US as a F-1 student you most show your I-20 with a travel signature. Even though travel signatures are valid for one year the F-1 student should make sure to travel with the most up to date I-20.

Working in the US

For details on the following, please contact international@albertus.edu:

• On-campus employment
• CPT Internships (paid/unpaid)
• Off-campus employment
• OPT
• Verification of Hire Form