Immigration
Planning for 2023/2024 Academic Year
(Updated July 19, 2023)
All COVID flexibilities have ended due to the end of COVID-19 National Emergency on April 10, 2023. The Student Exchange Visitor Program notified academic institutions on May 12, 2023 and stated students would need to follow federal regulations connected to course enrollment.
This means that new and continuing students for Fall semester 2023 can count only ONE 3-credit hour online course towards their full-time enrollment requirement for Fall 2023.
- Undergraduate students must take at least 12 credit hours for Fall with at least 9 hours of face-to-face courses.
- Graduate must take at least 9 credit hours for Fall with at least 6 hours of face-to-face courses.
Students are encouraged to speak with their academic department to ensure they can take face to face courses for the 2023/2024 academic year.
Students should also check their I-20. It should reflect the USF home campus of record – Tampa, St Petersburg, or Sarasota-Manatee. Students must take the majority of courses at the home campus. Additionally, they can only work on-campus at the home campus. Student who decide to change campuses, will need to request and receive OIS permission and obtain an updated I-20 before a semester begins. Changes during the semester will not be allowed.
This also means that continuing students cannot maintain their F-1 status while studying online outside the US. Students currently outside the US must return to the US in order to remain an F-1.
Students who are approved USF Study Abroad or Research Abroad must complete the Study or Research Abroad Approval E-Form to be approved to engage in this outside the US study while an F-1.