Verifying Your Status as an International Student or Scholar

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This message was originally sent by email on 2/24/2025

Dear Students and Scholars,

Given the many recent executive orders, ISSS has received questions from international students and scholars about whether they will be asked to verify their immigration status to government officials. We have prepared this guide to help you determine when it may be beneficial to carry your original immigration documents and how to access copies of your documents. Additionally, President, Radenka Maric, and our Provost, Anne D’Alleva sent out a message to the university last month. Please read this message to better understand our commitment to all our international students and scholars: “UConn will continue to support and value every member of our community.”

There are times an international student or scholar may be required to verify their immigration status in the U.S. This is most common when applying for a government benefit like a driver’s license or a Social Security Card. There may also be times a student or scholar is stopped within the U.S. by a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) official and asked for their immigration status. There is a rule that CBP officials are allowed to conduct stops anywhere within 100 miles of any U.S. land or sea border. ACLU: Know Your Rights – This article explains the 100-mile border zone and CBP’s warrantless stop capabilities. This guide below is a reminder of topics covered in the CISS Welcome Program and can help students and scholars in the event they need to verify their immigration status in the event you are not traveling with your original immigration documents.

Original Immigration Documents

When you are traveling internationally, traveling within the U.S. by air, rail or bus, or traveling within the U.S. and will be away from campus for several days, it is important to carry your original immigration documents. Otherwise, we don’t recommend you carry the original documents on a day-to-day basis at UConn. If your documents are ever lost or stolen it could create a more serious hardship for you, so unless you find yourself in one of the situations above, keep these documents safe.

  • Unexpired Passport
  • F-1 or J-1 Visa Stamp (can be expired or unexpired)
    • Canadian and Bermudian citizens will most likely not have a visa stamp in their passports. Students and scholars who changed status within the U.S. will also not have a visa stamp (see below).
  • Form I-20 or DS-2019
    • These forms verify your student or scholar status at UConn and clue the officer in to your F-1 or J-1 status. For F-1 students working an internship or job using OPT or CPT the I-20 also confirms the worksite on page two. Students and scholars traveling internationally need a travel signature on their I-20 or DS-2019.
  • I-94 Admission record
    • The I-94 is similar to a “receipt” for entering the U.S. and verifies the date a student or scholar arrived in the U.S., their visa status and their “admit until” date (the date they must depart the U.S.). The “admit until” date for all students and scholars should be “D/S” or Duration of Status. This means that so long as a student remains in good status and is enrolled full-time and making normal academic progress they may remain in the U.S. For scholars D/S means you are participating in your J-1 program objectives and engaged in your postdoc or other research/observation experience. Students and scholars will receive a new I-94 every time they enter the U.S. Find your I-94 Admission number here (click on “Get Most Recent I-94”).
  • Change of status approval documentation
    • Students or scholars who change their U.S. visa status to F-1 or J-1 from another visa status without leaving the U.S. should keep a copy of the approval notice and the updated I-94 attached verifying their change of immigration status.

Paper Copies of Immigration Documents
Keep a paper copy of your immigration documents in the event your original documents are ever lost or stolen. Keeping a secure, paper copy of the documents below in your backpack or handbag that you use daily, or in the glove box of your car is a good idea in the event you are ever stopped and asked to confirm your immigration status.

Electronic Copies of Immigration Documents

In the event you are asked to confirm your immigration status, and you do not have your original or paper copies of your documents, you can access electronic copies on your smartphone or tablet.

Option 1 – Keep an album in the photo gallery on your phone or tablet with copies of your immigration documents.

Option 2 – Log in to the ISSS Portal to retrieve your documents.

All students can log in to https://isssportal.uconn.edu/ with their NetID and password. From your user profile, under “Records”, scroll down and click on “Submit Arrival Documents”. In the “Attached Documents” section of your Submit Arrival Documents section you can open and download a copy of all the documents below.

All J-1 visiting scholars can log in to the ISSS Scholar Portal. Visit: https://s.uconn.edu/scholarportal and login using your personal email and password, not your NetID. Click on the “Documents” tab, scroll down to “Submit Arrival Documents” you can access all the arrival documents that you uploaded to the ISSS Portal.

It is important to remember that unless you have a history of arrests, criminal conviction or a terminated SEVIS record, it is unlikely you will encounter federal immigration officials within the U.S. The most common occasions are consular officials abroad and CBP officers you may encounter when returning to the U.S. from international travel. As a reminder we ask all students and scholars to report their international travel to ISSS before they depart the U.S. One of the questions we screen for is prior arrests and convictions so that we can guide you to resources and advise you appropriately.

In the event you are ever asked to provide the school contact information to a federal immigration official, you should share the CISS office number 860-486-3855 or if it is outside of business hours you should share the contact information for the UConn Police 860-486-4800.

I know this is a lot of information, but I hope that you find it helpful. Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions or concerns.

Yours sincerely,

Arthur Galinat

___________

Arthur Galinat (pronounce my name)

(he/him/his)
Director, International Student & Scholar Services (ISSS)
UConn Global Affairs
Center for International Student & Scholars (CISS)
2019 Hillside Rd., U-1083
STORRS, CT 06269-1083
PHONE: 860.486.3855  |  FAX: 860.486.5800

EMAIL: arthur.galinat@uconn.edu | http://international.global.uconn.edu

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