FOR ADVISORS’ INFORMATION: OIS Update – Immigration Document Issuance and Distribution
To: UIC Department Administrators
From: Jim Hammerschmidt, PhD, Associate Vice Provost for Global Engagement & Executive Director, Office of International Services
Date: April 8, 2020
Re: OIS Update | Immigration Document Issuance and Distribution
The Office of International Services would like to provide the following update regarding immigration document issuance and distribution during the COVID-19 pandemic. As always, if there are any questions or concerns about this announcement, please feel free to contact us at ois@uic.edu or (312) 996-3121.
Immigration Document Issuance
The Office of International Services continues to issue and mail immigration documents to international students, scholars and employees during the Illinois stay-at-home order. This process has been largely uninterrupted throughout the office transition to work from home, however, document mailing has been delayed for some due to circumstances beyond the control of OIS. Our advisors are responding to a considerable increase in immigration document requests, mostly within our normal processing time of five business days or less.
Currently, the only restrictions on immigration document issuance include new international visitors (exchange visitor scholars) from CDC Travel Health Notice Level 3 countries. On March 5, UIC suspended invitations to international visitors from these countries until further notice.
Initial I-20 issuance for incoming F-1 international students is moving forward as normal for fall 2020. Initial I-20s will not be issued for summer session I or summer session II per the recent announcements that summer sessions will be conducted entirely online.
Immigration Document Mailing
Once issued, documents are being mailed to recipients per their preference for regular post (free of charge) or express mail (at recipient’s expense). Express mailings are typically handled by UPS which has reported on mailing conditions within specific countries. International mailing service within some countries continues as normal while other countries are experiencing significant disruptions. It is our understanding that in disrupted countries, international shipments are being held in the destination country until deliveries to homes can resume. OIS is moving forward with international mailings in the hopes that immigration documents will reach recipients promptly once deliveries resume.
Electronic Distribution of Forms I-20
Recently, the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) announced that, due to COVID-19, Designated School Officials (DSOs) are allowed to electronically send I-20s to student email addresses listed in SEVIS. This is a significant adaptation to a policy which normally restricts I-20 distribution to hard copies with original signatures only. However, adjacent U.S. government agencies have not gone on record to confirm whether or not they will accept electronic I-20s (digital or printed with non-original signatures) for their processes. These agencies include the U.S. Department of State (visa issuance abroad), Customs and Border Protection (ports of entry) and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (in-country changes of status, employment authorization, etc.). In short, while OIS is authorized to send electronic I-20s to a student, they would not be able to use that I-20 to apply for a visa, enter the U.S. or apply for an immigration benefit from USCIS.
OIS is monitoring this situation closely and actively working with other university stakeholders to get clarification from the relevant government agencies. Any updates will be reported to the UIC community as soon as possible.
Office of International Services
Office of Global Engagement
The University of Illinois at Chicago
1200 West Harrison Street
2160 Student Services Building, MC 326
Chicago, IL 60607
(312) 996-3121 phone | (312) 996-9432 fax
ois@uic.edu email
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