Dear international students,

 

UConn has entered Phase 2 of the CRRSAA  (Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act)  Emergency Fund.  This means that UConn students who are experiencing an expense due to COVID-19 or are unable to meet eligible expenses under the cost of attendance, may apply for an emergency grant. More information can be found here: https://financialaid.uconn.edu/crrsaa/

 

International students are eligible to apply for this grant and can access the application form under the Phase 2 – Emergency Application Process section of the webpage.

 

International students do not complete a FAFSA, which is a financial aid application for U.S. students. Therefore, you should note the information for Students without a completed 2020-2021 FAFSA. 

 

We encourage you to apply for this grant if you are experiencing financial hardship due to COVID-19. Please direct specific questions to financialaid@uconn.edu.

 

Best wishes,

ISSS

 

Is your address on file correct? F/J visa regulations require you to report your current Foreign Address and U.S. Address to the ISSS Portal for SEVIS every time it changes.

Log in to the ISSS Portal and review the address information we have on file and update your address if needed. Your U.S. address must reflect where you physically reside. If you are outside the U.S. due to COVID or because you are home for break, you may list the ISSS address or your last U.S. address as your physical address.

If you do make changes, be sure to update your Current/Local Address, phone number or personal email address in Student Admin too!

For more information on updating your personal information or how to write a U.S. Address see the ISSS Website https://international.global.uconn.edu/students/current-students/current-students-update-your-address/

For more information, contact: ISSS at international@uconn.edu

 

International students can be vulnerable targets for criminals impersonating government officials, offering fake employment, and selling items that don’t really exist online, via email or by telephone. Telephone scams are common, and are often conducted by scammers from outside of the United States. They may claim to be officials from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and other agencies. These criminals try to gain access to personal information (name, date of birth, social security number, address) or they may try to scare students into paying them money. Read through the information below and follow the steps below to protect yourself from falling victim to a criminal/scammer.

Register Your Phone On the DO NOT CALL List

Government officials will not call/email you asking for money. Contact ISSS if you receive a phone call/email from someone claiming to be a government official asking for money. Do NOT pay by phone. Do NOT give out or “confirm” your date of birth or your social security number by phone. Collect all the information you can about the office (name of the government office, amount of money, reason you must pay) and tell them you need to speak with ISSS first. HANG UP THE PHONE!

Government officials will not use fear! Government officials will not threaten to immediately arrest or deport you if you don’t pay a fee or a tax over the phone. Many criminals/scammers may tell you that if you don’t pay the police will be dispatched to your apartment to arrest you. This is a scam. HANG UP THE PHONE!

Government officials will never ask you to pay a debt using gift cards. Government officials will never ask you to pay a debt by purchasing gift cards from Target, Walmart, Amazon etc. If anyone asks you to pay a debt this way, this is a scam.

Government offices (IRS, USCIS, DHS) will send paper notices by postal mail. Government office will always send paper notices by postal mail with updates about your status, pending cases or if there are fees owed. If you receive an unexpected paper notice from a government office come to ISSS to verify its authenticity.

Government offices may email you. The embassy/consulate in your home country may send email to the email address you used to schedule your visa appointment. The Student & Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) may send you email if you have not paid the SEVIS I-901 fee. Come to ISSS with these notices to verify their authenticity.

ISSS WILL contact you by email or telephone. If you receive an email/voicemail from ISSS, this is legitimate UConn business and you should follow up with ISSS staff about the issue.

Some legitimate institutions will require your personal information. For example if you have a bank account in the U.S. they will require your date of birth and your social security number, but they will never call you and ask for this over the phone. They will either ask you to come into the bank with this information or postal mail you official paperwork to submit to the bank. Similarly, when you apply for services that involve a check of your credit history (e.g. apartment rental, mobile phone purchase), you will be asked on the application form to provide your social security number, if you have one.

Know about the different types of scams:

IRS Impersonators (claiming you owe unpaid taxes)

Immigration Impersonators (claiming to be USCIS, DHS, “U.S. Immingration” telling you that you owe an international student “tax”, “fee”, or “immigration tax” and you will be deported)

Kidnapping Scam – you are told that your family overseas has been kidnapped and you must pay for their release. Scammers scare you and keep you on the phone so you cannot contact your family. Ask for proof, ask to speak with your family, use Facebook, messenger apps, twitter etc. to connect and confirm your family’s situation, before you send them money, believing they are actually kidnapped.

Identity Theft – Identity theft is when criminals steal your personal identifying information (e.g. SSN, Date of Birth, ID information) and use it for financial gain. Learn more about how to protect yourself!.pdf.pdf

Job Scams – Be wary of companies that ask you pay them to help you get a job. Always contact ISSS and make sure you have proper work authorization before you work off-campus.  Likewise beware of companies that hire you and pay you a salary without an interview or a resume or making you submit a formal job application – this is fishy and mostl likely a scam. Remember F and J visa holders are only allowed to work on-campus.  Students will require prior approval/authorization for any off-campus employment.

Online Dating/Social Media Scams – making new friends online is great, but beware of people you don’t know who may try to lure you off of the dating site or get you to share personal information with them for financial gain.

Apartments for Rent and Items for Sale – Be careful when purchasing items from individuals advertised online. Never go to a stranger’s house alone to purchase an item. Meet in a public place, bring a friend or notify your friend of your whereabouts. Be careful not to pay for a car or apartment without testing it or viewing it first. Some scammers will post photos of apartments or houses they do not own and try to get you to pay a deposit to them. Always visit legitimate resources to search for apartments like offcampushousing.uconn.edu or the website of a realty company.

What to do if you feel you are being scammed:

Report the scam to UConn Police (860)486-4800

Report the scam to ISSS (860)486-3855 or international@uconn.edu

Report the scam to the Federal Trade Commission

Report Identity Theft (SSN, Personal ID or Debit Credit Card) to Federal Trade Commission

Report the scan to the agency or company from which the scammer claims to be calling, in the case of fraudulent calls. All government agencies will have a section of their website that talks about fraudulent activity and scams, and how to report it to that office.

SCAM Resources

Federal Trade Commission Publication: IRS Imposter Scams.pdf.pdf

Federal Trade Commission Publication: Online Dating Scams.pdf.pdf

Federal Trade Commission Publication: Job Scams.pdf.pdf

SEVP Notice On Scams

USCIS: Avoid Scams

USCIS: Most Common Scams

For more information, contact: ISSS at international@uconn.edu

 

The tax filing season has begun.  If you earned income in the U.S. in 2020 you are responsible to file a tax return by April 15, 2021 and should pay attention to the information below.  The VITA program at UConn and Sprintax software are available to students and scholars.  If you did not earn any income, but were present in the U.S. skip down to the bottom for instructions on submitting the 8843 form.

• The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program is run by trained UConn student volunteers and they will help you fill out your tax return documents. Register with the VITA program at the link below.  Your taxes will be processed in the order received starting after March 1. Please allow a minimum of 5-7 business days for VITA to review your submission and respond to you.  https://accounting.business.uconn.edu/undergraduate/vita-program/
• Sprintax is a software that specializes in nonresident alien tax returns.  UConn can provide you with a code to use to file your federal tax return for free but there is an additional fee to file your CT state return. To learn more visit: https://international.global.uconn.edu/tax-preparation-resources/  email international@uconn.edu with your name and student ID number.
• UConn Income Statements (W-2 form) will be available online at https://ess.uconn.edu/ navigate to Payroll > View W-2/W-C Information
• If you are no longer employed at UConn and cannot log in to https://ess.uconn.edu/ please contact Payroll at payroll@uconn.edu
• If you had on campus employment and can claim the benefits of a tax treaty you will receive a 1042-S from the State of Connecticut by mail shortly.  You should wait to file your income taxes until after you receive this form.
• If you will be receiving a 2020 Form 1042-S for a scholarship or fellowship, UConn’s Tax and Compliance Office has notified you of this through an email sent to you on 1/29/21.  Your Form 1042-S for a scholarship or fellowship will be mailed to the mailing address that is listed in Student Admin.  If that is not the correct address, please contact taxcompliance@uconn.edu as soon as possible with your correct mailing address.

If you did not earn income in the U.S., but are a nonresident for tax purposes there is still one tax form you must file, the form 8843 – see below for information on how you can learn to file the form 8843.  https://accounting.business.uconn.edu/undergraduate/vita-program/form-8843-filing-instructions/

Watch a video with instructions on how to submit the form 8843: https://international.global.uconn.edu/tax-preparation-resources/

 

Dear international students and scholars,

We would like to share with you the statement issued from the UConn Asian American Cultural Center, The Association for Asian American Faculty and Staff, and The Asian and Asian American Studies Institute regarding anti-Asian violence:https://asacc.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/823/2021/03/STATEMENT-FROM-AAAFS-ON-ANTI-ASIAN-VIOLENCE-MARCH-2021-1.pdf

We recognize that our Asian students and visiting scholars have been impacted directly and indirectly by these acts, and we stand with you and our campus partners. A virtual panel on will take place on March 18 @ 5pm. “Asians in America: Anti-Asian Violence and the Fight Against Invisibility” and will feature UConn students, faculty, and staff; provide perspectives on today’s climate and its impact on UConn’s Asian and Asian American community; and galvanize anti-racist efforts that will benefit us all. To register for the event, please click here.

 

For more information, contact: AsACC at asacc@uconn.edu

 

ISSS has made a change to the Curricular Practical Training (CPT) Application process that we want you to be aware of, in case you are currently preparing your CPT application. CPT is an authorization that ISSS can provide to F-1 visa students to do internships on or off campus that are part of your UConn curriculum.

For any application submitted March 8 or after, we will require a new form called the ISSS 368 CPT Employer Addendum. This will only be required for paid CPT positions. If your position is not paid, you do not need to submit this new form.

The employer addendum form will help to ensure that your employer knows your internship forms part of your academic program, and that your employment is bound to the terms and limitations of CPT. The CPT applicant is responsible to provide this form to your employer for completion, and you will submit this to ISSS along with your offer letter and proof of course enrollment (if the CPT is tied to credit bearing work).

You can find the updated CPT application instructions here. Please reach out to your ISSS advisor with any questions regarding this form.

 

For more information, contact: ISSS at international@uconn.edu

Dear international students and scholars,

 

Next Friday, March 5th, ISSS will be joined at our monthly Stay Informed! meeting by our wonderful campus partners, Center for Career Development and Off Campus and Commuter Student Services. To make sure their content is best targeted to your interests and questions, we would appreciate any feedback you can provide about topics of off-campus living or career development and career services at UConn.

 

Link to form:  https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd3CZof_oA1aXd7Js-KGNuiNwtNV-iAHiazZUkLGk9OcclA-g/viewform?usp=sf_link

 

In the form linked above, you can tell us any questions you have about job, internship and career development for international students and scholars, or about living off-campus.

 

You can also tell ISSS what has surprised you most about living off campus, and what has surprised you most about working or interning in the United States.

 

The information in this form is anonymously collected and will be used to learn about what type of information may be most useful to international students and visiting scholars in the U.S. Each question is optional. If you wish to participate, please submit the form by March 2nd. We thank you for your help!

For more information, contact: ISSS at international@uconn.edu

For more information, contact: ISSS at international@uconn.edu

 

At March’s ISSS Stay Informed meeting, we will be joined by UConn’s Off Campus and Commuter Student Services staff to talk with international students and scholars about living off campus.

What questions do you have about living off campus? Tell us through THIS FORM, so that we can provide you with the most relevant information possible.

Thanks and we hope to see you at the next Stay Informed meeting on Friday, March 5, at noon.

For more information, contact: ISSS at international@uconn.edu