F-1 Status

F-1 Students must maintain their F-1  status through their entire education within the United States. To maintain F-1 status, they must be full-time students (12 credits or more) during the Fall and Spring Semesters, attend their classes (no WU grades), get permission from the ISSO to work and travel, and inform the ISSO of changes to address or financial situation.

F-1 Students do not need to be enrolled in Summer/Winter courses.

Failing grades do not affect F-1 status. It only matters that at least 12 credits worth of courses were completed.

An expired F-1 student visa does not affect F-1 status, as long as, the student has a valid I-20.  If the student leaves the U.S and then wishes to return, however, they will need get an updated F-1 student visa.

Normally, F-1 students can only enroll in one online course per semester, but due to covid, they currently must enroll in at least one hybrid or in-person course and the rest of the credits can be online. Please, confirm with the ISSO what the current policy is regarding this before registering for your courses.

Exemptions for not being full-time include:

A medical exemption – you get up to 12 months of medical exemption. You need to provide a letter from your doctor

An “Academic reduced course load with difficulty” – a valid academic reason you could not complete at least 12 credits (note, you can only use this exemption for one semester).

If an international student loses their F-1 status as a result of not meeting the requirements, they will have 15 days from after their status ended to leave the U.S

On the other hand, a student who completes their degree has a 60 day grace period to decide whether to return home, apply to another school, or get a one year work authorization (OPT).

F-1 students that decide to apply to another college while still in the U.S need only get a new I-20 from the college they want to attend (follow the F-1 SEVIS Transfer process in Step 5A of the BMCC Form I-20 instructions).

Basic responsibilities for International Students pdf

International Student Forms

Any further questions can be directed to the ISSO: internationalstudents@bmcc.cuny.edu