Immigration & Visas: F-1 Students

• Immigration & Visas
• Visa Information for Newly Admitted Students
• F-1 Student Status
• I-20 Extension
• Changing Visa Status to F-1
• Current students: I-20 to request F-1 status
• Employment in F-1 Status
• Optional Practical Training (OPT)
• New OPT Regulation
• OPT Report Form
• Curricular Practical Training (CPT)
• Are you Graduating Soon?
• Leave of Absence & "In Absentia" registration
• Medical Leave of Absence
• Change in Level or Degree Program
• Transfer of Schools
• Bringing F-2 dependents
• For Departments: I-9 for F-1 student

Changing your Immigration Status: F-1 to F-2

To change from F-1 student to F-2 dependent status within the U.S., complete the application packet (available at the ISSO or on-line below), and mail the items suggested in the application to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). After you are approved for the change of status, the next time you travel out of the U.S., you will have to go to a U.S. consulate to apply for the F-2 visa stamp in order to re-enter the U.S. in F-2 status. Make certain your complete application is reviewed by an ISSO staff member before mailing. The Vermont Service Center usually takes between 1 and 3 months to approve a change of status application.

ITEMS IN APPLICATION TO USCIS:

1. Fee (currently $300): check or money order made payable to the Department of Homeland Security; write your I-94 card number, name (if not already printed on your check), and the type of application you are requesting on the face of your check or money order.
2. A letter from you, requesting the change of status and explaining your circumstances and plans. It is recommended that an adviser at the ISSO look at your letter before you mail your packet to the USCIS.
3. Completed Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status (ISSO adviser can help you with items you don't understand; remember to fill out both sides of the form, answer questions in Part 4 item 3 on a separate page when necessary, and complete the mailing label).
4. The dependent I-20 created for you by the ISSO (or other school if your spouse is not a Cornell student). Send the original, not a copy.
5. Photocopies of your spouse's immigration documents:
   

   ID page of her/his passport
   - page in passport showing expiration date if different than ID page
   - F-1 visa page
   - I-20 (pages 1 - 3; This should be the updated version which includes funding for you as a dependent)
   - BOTH sides of the I-94 card



6. Photocopies of your immigration documents:
   

   Your current (F-1) I-20 (pages 1-3)
   - ID page of your passport
   - page in passport showing expiration date if different than ID page
   - your F-1 visa page
   - BOTH sides of the I-94 card



7. A photocopy of your marriage certificate (or official "family record").
8. Financial documentation: evidence which supports section 8 on your I-20 (personal or family bank statements and/or letter from your spouse's academic field for an assistantship).

Staple all of the items together and mail to:

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services
Eastern Service Center
75 Lower Welden Street
St. Albans, VT 05479-0001**


**Please Note: This is the service center to use if you are currently living in Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, U.S. Virgin Islands, Vermont, Virginia or West Virginia. If you are NOT living in one of these states, please contact an advisor at the ISSO about where to send your application.

*Be sure to keep a photocopy of each item you send -- for your records. Send everything by "Return Receipt Requested"/Certified U.S. mail.