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International Office

Immigration Documents and Definitions

Passport

All foreign national employees must have a valid passport or national identification document at all times while residing in the U.S. Passports must remain valid at least 6 months into the future. Passports can be renewed at the scholar's home country consulate.

List of Foreign Consulates

Visa

Visas are issued at U.S. consulates abroad. It is affixed to a page in the passport and it is an entry document only. It allows foreign nationals to apply for entry at a U.S. Port of Entry, i.e. an airport, seaport, or land border crossings. Once entry is approved, the visitor enters the U.S. in the non-immigrant status that matches the visa classification.

There are two types of visas: immigrant and non-immigrant. The International Office provides services to foreign nationals at TSRI on non-immigrant visas - letter visa classifications that reflect the specific purpose for coming to the U.S temporarily. For certain payroll titles, and with VP approval, the International Office coordinates with contracted immigration attorneys for TSRI sponsored "green cards" (adjustment of status to permanent resident of the U.S., or immigrant).

Status

After the port of entry inspector allows admission, a non-immigrant status is granted and stamped on the I-94 card and the eligibility document. To maintain legal immigration status in the U.S., the following documents must be valid at all times: the passport, I-94 card and the visa eligibility document (not the visa stamp in your passport).

I-94 Card

Also referred to as the Departure Record, the I-94 card is usually a small white card stapled to a passport page. It should contain an immigration stamp in red ink in the upper right side. This is the evidence that the visitor was inspected and legally admitted to the U.S. In this section, the port of entry inspector hand writes the immigration status and expiration date (or "D/S" for F and J visa holders ) of the visitor's stay in U.S. The 11 digit number on the upper left side is an important immigration identifier.

"D/S"

Duration of Status means the alien can remain in the U.S. until the expiration date of their eligibility document. Aliens in F status (form I-20) have 60 days grace period to depart the U.S.; aliens in J status (form DS-2019) have 30 days grace period.

Eligibility Document

Along with the I-94 card, the eligibility document must be kept valid at all times while in the U.S. to avoid losing legal status. The eligibility document enables a foreign national to apply for a particular visa at a U.S. consulate abroad and for entry into the U.S.

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Non-Immigrant

An alien who seeks temporary entry to the United States for a specific purpose. The alien must have a permanent residence abroad (for most classes of admission) and qualify for the non-immigrant classification sought.

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EAD

Employment Authorization Documents are issued by the Department of U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services to various classes of non-immigrants and pending immigrants including F-1 OPT, J-2, pending immigrants, refugees, asylees, and those in temporary protected status (TPS). EADs are List A document for I-9 work authorization purposes. Under no circumstances can B, WB, WT, F-2, H-4 aliens be employed in the U.S. at TSRI.

SEVIS

Is an acronym for Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, a federal government database that allow schools, research institutes, U.S. Immigration & Citizenship Services, U.S. consulates abroad and U.S. ports of entry/exit to exchange information on F-1 students and J-1 exchange visitors. SEVIS tracks and monitors the arrival, activity in U.S. and departure of F and J visa holders.