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Guide for International Students
2011 Green Card Lottery
CUNY Ambassadors Program

Extended Walk-in Hours

Due to the approach of the Holiday season and the need for travel endorsements, we at the International Students Office have extended our walk-in hours on November 2nd, 9th, 23rd & 30th.    We will be open from 5:30-6:30pm on these days in addition to our usual walk in hours, which can be found here.  Please note that an endorsed I-20 is valid for 3 months from the date of endorsement so If you are planning on traveling abroad during the holiday season come see us at your earliest convenience.

We also have extended walk-in hours on November 16th, 18th & 19th to facilitate the OPT application.  We will be open from 5:30-6:30pm on these days in addition to our usual walk in hours.  If you are graduating at the end of this semester and wish to pursue OPT please come see us as soon as possible, we recommend filing before November 21st and the last day to file without affecting your time in the US is December 21st.

In honor of the International Education Week, the Hunter College International Students Office would like to invite you to an Immigration Update Workshop. An Immigration Attorney Eugene Goldstein with a private practice, also part of the City University (CUNY) will lead a discussion and review about immigration rules and regulations.

Topics to be included in the discussion are:

Employment options for F-1/J-1 students

Green Card- Diversity Lottery

Paths to United States Permanent Residency

Other topics of interest to students

Location: Room Thomas Hunter 502  Time: 1:00pm-2:30pm    Date: Tuesday, November 17th, 2009

Timely Optional Practical Training (OPT) Application

Please be advised that if, Fall 2009 is your last semester and you are planning to pursue OPT after you have graduated, you should plan to apply for OPT no later than November 21^st.  It is recommended that you apply at the earliest possible date, September 21^st, to ensure prompt processing times.  If you file for OPT later than December 21^st it will reduce the amount of time that you are allowed to work in the United States. To apply for OPT you must have first filed a Degree Audit with the Office of the Registrar, this can be found here; http://registrar.hunter.cuny.edu/forms/Degreeaudt/first.htm

2011 Green Card Lottery

The 2011 Diversity Visa Program (DV-2011) is now accepting applications.  Applications are being accepted from October 2nd 2009- November 30th 2009 you can find all the information needed to apply here: http://www.dvlottery.state.gov/

CUNY Ambassadors Program

The CUNY Ambassadors Program offers students the opportunity to become part of a dynamic group of student advocates.  Students will meet with other CUNY students to further their advocacy skills and political acumen through training and advocacy experiences.

If you would like to get involved, become an Advocate or just find out more information, go to the CUNY Leadership Academy website located at, http://www.cla.cuny.edu/events.htm

Citizenship Application Assistance

Students are eligible to become United States citizens if they have been permanent residents for three years, if married to a United States citizen. Otherwise the student must have been a permanent resident for five years.

Students who are eligible will receive help filling out their U.S. citizenship application forms on Wednesday, November 11th, from 1:30pm to 5:00pm. The workshop will be in room 511 Hunter West.

Before you come to the workshop, please take a moment to read this important information from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services website: www.UCIS.gov

The City University of New York (CUNY) provides further assistance with naturalization and immigration inquiries through the CUNY Citizenship and Immigration Project. You can find more information regarding this free and confidential services on their website: http://web.cuny.edu/about/citizenship.html

One To World: Fall 2009 Calendar

One To World offers a great variety of exciting programs and activities for International Students in order to bridge the gaps between world cultures. Check out their website for more information:

http://www.one-to-world.org/

The CUNY/311 Project is now accepting applications for part time employment from International students in legal F-1 immigration status.

Hunter College International students in following declared majors or in graduate and undergraduate level programs in the following disciplines are encouraged to apply:

Anthropology

Community Health Education

Computer Sciences

Counseling

Economics

Educational Psychology

English

Foreign Languages

Geography

History

Political Science

Psychology

Sociology

Statistics & Applied Math

Teaching English to Speakers of other Languages (TESOL)

Urban Affairs, Urban Planning, Urban Studies

Women Studies

 Applications are available in both the International Students Office (1109 Hunter East) as well as in Career Development Services (805 East) .For more information visit the following web site:

http://web.cuny.edu/jobs/student-jobs/jobs/311-proj.html

Guide for International Students

We at the International Students Office have created a new interactive guide for International Students. This should help to answer many questions about, studying and living in New York City, you can view the guide here.

Subscribe to Our New International Students Listserv

The International Students Office has created a brand new listserv to keep you up to date with the most current information regarding immigration and official school notices. This listserv will enable the office to send e-mails to all international students who subscribe to the service. Subscribing is very simple and it only takes one minute!

To subscribe, all you need to do is send an e-mail to: international-l-request@hunter.listserv.cuny.edu with the following message in the body of the e-mail SUBSCRIBE INTERNATIONAL-L "your name" The subject of the e-mail should be SUBSCRIBE 

Example
Email to: international-l-request@hunter.listserv.cuny.edu
Subject: SUBSCRIBE
Body of e-mail: SUBSCRIBE INTERNATIONAL-L John Smith

Make sure you take advantage of this great opportunity to be updated regarding all immigration and official school information as we are informed about them.

Changes in Department of Homeland Security Policies Regarding Employers of International Students

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced that it will change its policies regarding individuals who employ international students without proper employment authorization. The DHS will now investigate the employers and not the students, which differs from the previous practice of investigating the employee first.

U.S. Military Now Offers International Students Path to Citizenship

The Unites States military is now offering individuals with certain language skills residing in the country with temporary visas, a path to citizenship provided that these individuals meet the eligibility criteria for enlisting in the U.S. military. The new program, known as Military Accessions Vital to National Interest (MAVNI), is run by the Department of Defense. To find out if you meet the eligibility criteria and for further information, please visit the following website from the U.S. Department of Defense: http://www.defenselink.mil/news/mavni-fact-sheet.pdf

Citizenship Applications and Information Available

U.S. citizenship applications are available in the International Students Office (ISO). For your convenience, the ISO also has the redesigned (new) naturalization test guide, which outlines the type of information you will be expected to know when you take the naturalization test.

Elimination of the H-1B “Cap-Gap”

The H-1B “cap-gap” occurs when a F-1 student’s status and OPT work authorization expires during the current fiscal year before the student can start approved H-1B employment during the next fiscal year that begins on October 1.  For example, a student whose OPT ending date is July 16, 2008, and whose employer successfully files an H-1B petition for a job that is subject to the H-1B “cap” and starts October 1 currently needs to stop employment as of July 16, and depart the United States on September 15 (the last day of the 60-day grace period following OPT).  While outside the United States, the student must then obtain an H-1B visa, and cannot re-enter the United States any sooner than 10 days prior to the H-1B start date.

Under the new rule, a student currently on OPT who is the beneficiary of a timely-filed H-1B petition that requests an employment start date of October 1 of the following fiscal year will have his or her duration of status and OPT employment authorization extended to that date.

Should the pending H-1B petition ultimately be denied, the student will have a sixty day grace period from the notification date of the denial to depart the United States, obtain admission to a new F-1 SEVIS-approved school, or file an application for a change of status.