Dear F1 & J1 Students,

Welcome back to the Academic Year 2024-2025. Please review essential Announcements for Returning F1 & J1 Students.

MAINTAINING YOUR STATUS REMINDER

Register for a full course of study to activate and maintain legal status. There are cases, however, in which regulations consider a student pursuing a full course of study even though he or she is NOT registered for a full credit load. These are specific to PhD candidates who are on matric continued. Please review detailed information about required credits for your program here: https://myrun.newark.rutgers.edu/node/490
Students must make all efforts to arrive by the semester start date. The Fall 2024 start date of 9/3/2024 is clearly noted on your I-20. If you arrive past this date, you may encounter issues with CBP officers at the airport or border.

LIMITATION ON ONLINE COURSES FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

There is a limit to how many credits of online courses F-1 visa international students can take as part of their full-time credit load each semester. All F-1 students must enroll for a full course of study every fall and spring semester until they complete their program. Continuing students’ summer enrollment is optional and not subject to this requirement.

Per F-1 regulations, no more than one online/distance education class or 3 credits per semester may count toward the full course of study requirement in the fall and spring terms. An online/distance education class is defined as one that does not require physical attendance at Rutgers University to complete the course and does not have some in-person component associated with it (e.g., no meetings, exams, presentations, etc. are required in-person).

Per J-1 regulations for exchange visitors, no more than one online/distance education class per semester may count toward the full course of study requirement in the fall and spring terms. Students on approved Academic Training may participate remotely for no more than 40% of their program (e.g., two out of five days per week) when their host organizations have instituted partial remote policies, and their sponsor has approved their hybrid program participation. New exchange visitors with a program begin date on July 1, 2023, or thereafter, are expected to adhere to this Guidance Directive.

We understand that many courses are now being offered in hybrid format. It is important to ensure that international students have no more than 1 fully online course or no more than 3 credits per semester that count towards their full-time registration requirement in the fall and spring terms. Hybrid classes that predominantly require in-person student attendance would be considered in-person courses. Hybrid classes that do not require any in-person time, would be considered online.

For Undergraduate Students: FT–12 credit minimum
3 online credits + 9 in-person/hybrid credits is considered acceptable. You could choose to take additional online courses after they meet this requirement.

For RBS Masters & Law school Program students: FT- 12 credits

3 online credits + 9 in-person/hybrid credits is considered acceptable. You could choose to take additional online courses after they meet this requirement.

For Graduate School Students (non RBS masters): FT-9 credits
3 online credits + 6 in-person/hybrid credits is considered acceptable. They could choose to take additional online courses after they meet this requirement.

Some graduate programs may have different definitions of full-time study. In these cases, no more than one online/distance education class or 3 credits per semester may count toward the full course of study requirement in the fall and spring terms.

Full Course of Study Requirement

REDUCE COURSE LOAD REQUESTS

If a student is registered for less than a full-time course/credit load in fall 2024 (for specific qualifying academic or medical reasons), they must submit a “Reduced Credit/Course Load‘ e-form through the RGlobal Student Services portal. The form opens on Monday, August 19, 2024 and the deadline for submitting the form is Friday, September 20, 2024. Click here to review the requirements for RCL Requests.

FALL CURRICULAR PRACTICAL TRAINING (CPT) & OPT

Request for CPT-off-campus employment for Fall 2024 opened on Monday August 19. The mandatory training modules have now moved to the Rglobal portal and are embedded in the request. CPT and OPT requests will require students to complete the training through Rglobal. The Canvas modules are no longer available.

If you completed a Summer CPT, then you are exempted from the new training/modules for Fall 2024. However, if Fall 2024 is your first time applying for CPT, you must log onto the Rglobal portal, click “Workshops” under the menu, and complete the “off-campus employment workshop.” We will not approve any Fall 2024 CPT requests for those who have not completed the workshops!

OPT applications for Fall 2024 graduates open October 22, 2024 (90 days before the official fall semester end date of 12/23/2024). More details will be provided later, but you must complete the new required workshops on Rglobal under the “Workshops” menu and “Post Completion OPT workshops.” We will not process or issue you an OPT I-20 without completing the workshops.

ENROLL FOR HEALTH INSURANCE OR WAIVER

As a reminder, International students must register or waive insurance each semester. Find out more at Rutgers International Students & Scholars Health Insurance.

STEPS TO COMPLETE HEALTH INSURANCE ENROLLMENT – DEADLINE IS WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25

Register for classes. Wait three business days after registering for classes to complete the enrollment form at universityhealthplans.com.
Change your International address to a U.S. mailing address, visit my.rutgers.edu/portal. The campus address (BPO Way, CPO Way, RPO Way, city, state, and zip code) can be used.
Add your email address and phone number, visit my.rutgers.edu/portal.
Wait 3 business days after registering for classes to complete the enrollment form at universityhealthplans.com. You do NOT have to wait for the term bill.
Wait 5-7 business days after submitting the enrollment form online to create an account and access the insurance card at www.uhcsr.com

STEPS TO WAIVE THE STUDENT HEALTH INSURANCE FOR STUDENTS IN F-1 or J-1 VISA STATUS – DEADLINE IS WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25

F-1 and J-1 students on a Rutgers sponsorship with insurance coverage other than the student insurance plan charged on their term bills need to request a waiver of that insurance premium by following the exemption request process outlined below. Please note that Rutgers-sponsored international students cannot waive the student insurance plan through the United Healthcare website; it must be done through Rutgers Global – International Student and Scholar Services. The deadline for submitting the waiver is Wednesday, September 25, 2024.

Please complete the following steps to request the waiver:

Review supporting documents you will need to provide or address to complete the exemption, all supporting documents must confirm that your coverage meets every one of the University’s health insurance requirements.
Apply for the insurance waiver by completing the form available through the RGlobal Student Services Portal on the OISS website.
Submit the form and any supporting documents to the OISS by Wednesday, September 25, 2024, to opt out of the university’s student insurance plan and have the premium removed from the term bill.

**Important Note: Students on another institution’s visa sponsorship who are registered for a full-time course load and hold coverage other than the student insurance plan will need to waive their student insurance premium by following the online waiver instructions.

TRAVEL SIGNATURES

As always, we would like to advise all our students to exercise caution and review the Travel and Visa Information webpage for further detailed international travel guidance, resources, and tips. The travel signature on the I-20 or DS-2019 is valid for 12 months (6 months for students on OPT) and confirms that the student is in valid legal status and eligible to return to the United States to resume their programs.  For more information and recommendations for international travel, visit the Global website page on Preparing for International Travel.

Finally, remember to join and engage in Weeks of Welcome programming and fun activities!

We look forward to welcoming you back to campus! We wish you a safe and happy journey back!

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Honors Living Learning Community (HLLC) Building
48 New Street, Suite 226-227, Newark, New Jersey 07102

Tel: (973) 353-1427; Email: OISS@newark.rutgers.edu
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