Hi everyone, I’m an international student and I recently reached out to my university’s ISS office about an unrelated question regarding my summer enrollment. During that conversation, they discovered that I unknowingly violated my F-1 status this spring by taking too many online classes. I’m enrolled in 12 credits, but only 3 are in-person. F-1 requires at least 9 in-person. My academic advisor reviewed my schedule and never flagged it, so I had no idea this was a problem.
Now, I’m facing a few options:
1. Leave the US, get a new I-20 with a new SEVIS ID, and re-enter to complete my remaining requirements.
2. File for reinstatement of my F-1 status, which takes 4-12 months and restricts work and travel while pending.
3. Complete my remaining summer course from outside the US, then re-enter on a new I-20 from my future grad school for fall.
Here’s my situation:
• I’m a graduating senior finishing my last degree requirement this summer. It’s a 3-credit online course through another university. After that I’m done.
• I’ve been admitted to a US master’s program starting this fall, so I’ll need to transfer my SEVIS record to a new institution.
• My F-1 visa stamp is still valid through 2027 so I wouldn’t need a new visa interview to re-enter.
• The violation was genuinely unintentional. My advisor approved the schedule without raising any concerns, and I was foolishly ignorant about the requirements.
Since I’m transitioning to a new degree program in the fall anyway, I’m leaning toward Option 3. The plan would be to leave after spring ends, complete the summer course remotely from home, and re-enter on an Initial Attendance I-20 issued by my future grad school. This would avoid the long reinstatement wait entirely and set me up cleanly for the master’s.
I fully recognize that this is completely my fault. I was just wondering if anyone has been through something similar, especially when transitioning from undergrad to a US grad program? Is the “leave and re-enter on a new grad school I-20” path as clean as it sounds, or are there complications at the border or with CBP given a prior status violation? Any advice on which option makes the most sense here would be really appreciated.
Thanks in advance!