Program Completion
“Program completion” refers to the date of graduation or other designated completion date per your SEVIS record and I-20.
If you will not complete your program on the listed completion date, you must formally shorten your stay or apply for an extension of your program of study. Any extension must be made prior to the expiration date on your current I-20.
Requests for extensions, along with all supporting financial and academic documents, should be submitted 30-60 days prior to the expiration date of your I-20.
If you have questions, contact ISS.
Options After Graduation
Option 1: Leave the United States
- You may not be employed through Student Employment following program completion.
- You must leave the country within 60 days of program completion; his is your “grace period.”
Option 2: Enroll in Graduate Studies
- You may not be employed through Student Employment following program completion.
- You must complete a SEVIS Release to transfer to a new academic program in the United States. The release of your record to the new institution must take place while you are in valid F-1 status. You must then secure a new Form I-20 from your graduate institution. Please contact ISS to initiate this process.
Option 3: Secure Optional Practical Training (OPT).
- You must apply for OPT and receive authorization before you can start working.
- You must complete this survey to alert ISS of any employment, changes in employment, or address changes.
– Consequences for not responding: Your information in SEVIS will be incorrect. Be advised that Homeland Security is checking for updates. If you have missing/incorrect data and show as being out of status, Homeland Security (not ISS) will terminate you in SEVIS, which means you could be deported.
Wooster Email
Your student email account will remain active following your program completion. This is the only place we will send you important information about immigration and taxes.
Snail Mail
Following graduation, mail sent to your campus address will automatically be forwarded to the address listed in the student directory, unless you complete an “address change card” with the campus post office.
Enrollment Deposit
The Business Office will refund your enrollment deposit in June. It will be sent to your billing address, unless you notify the Business Office of an alternate address. If there is an address in the U.S. to which the check may be sent, please provide that information to expedite the process. Please contact Krista Way in the Business Office with any questions.
Taxes
Upon completion of the tax year, the Payroll Office will produce your W-2 by January 31st if you were employed on campus, and the Business Office will produce a 1042-S Form by March 31 if you received certain types of taxable income (including scholarships). Contact the Payroll Office/Business Office directly to receive these documents in time for your annual tax return. Don’t forget to check your spam filter for these documents!
You must file federal and state tax returns for any wages earned during the previous year. Use your Wooster email and send a “request for Sprintax access” to ISS. Access codes and instructions for Sprintax will be sent to you at the same time they are provided to current students.
Exit Survey
To help us better serve current and future students, please take this survey to let us know your thou