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What is a Violation of Immigration Status?

Violation of status means you have broken one of the immigration regulations pertaining to F-1 visa. If this occurs, you will lose the benefits of your status in the U.S., including employment authorization.

What Causes You to Violate or 'Fall out of' Status?

• You did not attend the school you were authorized to attend - the school which issued the I-20 used to enter the U.S.
• You do not follow the correct procedures for continuing from one educational level to another or for transferring from one school to another.
• You drop below full time in any semester without obtaining permission.
• You work off-campus without proper authorization.
• You work on or off-campus for more than 20 hours a week when school is in session, even though you obtained permission to be employed.
• Your program completion date has passed and you have not filed for a program extension,
• You have been expelled or dismissed.

Reinstatement To Student (F-1) Immigration Status

• If you violate the terms of your status, visit the International Students and Scholars office as soon as possible.
• There are two ways for resuming status: applying through USCIS for resumption or traveling outside of the U.S. and regain status by the Port of Entry.
• It is very important to make a Reinstatement application immediately. F-1 students who have been out of status for more than 5 months are ineligible for reinstatement through the USCIS, unless they can prove exceptional circumstances.
• To be eligible for reinstatement, you cannot have a record of repeat violations of regulations.
• Please refer to the Reinstatement Guide and Checklist (PDF) for more information.