Date of Arrival

USCSTUDENTAffairs

--- Predeparture ---

Date of Arrival

Planning for Departure

Date of Arrival

Regulations by the United States Department of Homeland Security state that new students entering on an F-1 or J-1 student visa will only be eligible to enter the US a date thirty days or less prior to the beginning of the program date, or start date, as given on the SEVIS Form I-20 (for F visas) or DS-2019 (for J visas). For new F-1 students this reporting date indicated on #5 of the form I-20 is August 25, 2008. Therefore please enter no earlier than July 25, 2008. For J-1 students the program start date is indicated at section #3 on the DS-2019 form. Please consider this date carefully when making your travel plans to the US.

The first step is to fix your date of arrival in the US. If you work backwards, you can figure out what should be your ideal arrival date. Though the semester starts on August 25, 2008 the last day to register for classes without paying a late fee is August 22, 2008. This means by August 22nd, you should have already completed Passport Verification, registered for classes, bought health insurance, found permanent housing, etc.

The OIS recommends that graduate students arrive at least two weeks before International Student Orientation (ISO), August 18-22. However, the arrival date varies depending on each student's individual situation.

Freshmen students
The International Student Orientation for undergraduate students is scheduled for August 18th and 19th. If you have been given a Freshman housing assignment, you may be able to move into that residence earlier than the August 20th move-in date to attend the ISO.

To inquire about early move-in, please contact the Trojan Housing office at 213.740.2546 or 800.872.4632. Students should do this as early as possible, as early move-in is not always available.