Upon arrival in the United States, you will need to present the original Form I-20 and your valid passport with valid F-1 visa stamp to the immigration official at the port of entry. Additionally, it is strongly recommended that you carry your financial support documentation and admission letter from Dartmouth.
You are allowed to enter the U.S. no earlier than thirty (30) days before your academic program start date and you may not enter after this date. Do not enter the U.S. in the visa waiver (tourist) program, even if you are eligible. Please make sure you enter as an F-1 student.
At the port-of-entry, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection official will inspect your documents and create a Form I-94 record of arrival for you as evidence of your admission. The electronic I-94 is the record of your admission and authorized period of stay in the U.S. as an international student and will be available to you online following your arrival. You must log into the system and print out the copy of your I-94 from the website: https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/.
It is your responsibility to check the I-94 to ensure the information is correct, and notify OVIS if you discover an error.
Required check-in and orientation with the Office of Visa and Immigration Services (OVIS)
All F-1 international students coming to Dartmouth are required to attend a check-in/orientation session with our office within 30 days of entering the U.S. You will be sent information on the check-in/orientation process prior to your arrival.
The OVIS Check-In will be an online form where you will be able to provide us with your immigration documentation evidencing your entry to the U.S. in F-1 status. If your immigration documents are in order, OVIS will register your SEVIS record and we will issue you a new Form I-20 'Continued Attendance' with a travel signature, which completes the initial check-in process and confirms your arrival to Dartmouth. If there are any issues with your admission to the U.S., we will address those problems as quickly as possible.
Employment
On-campus employment for Dartmouth College is a benefit of your F-1 student status and is strictly controlled by the Department of Homeland Security. F-1 students may work on-campus for a Dartmouth College paycheck only, up to 20 hours per week during enrolled terms, and full time during Dartmouth vacation periods or official interim periods between academic terms.
NOTE: Fully-funded graduate students who receive a stipend are already deemed to be working the maximum hours per week and may not accept additional work during enrolled terms. F-1 students may only work off-campus if that work has been authorized by either U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) or OVIS through specific application procedures, and only in limited circumstances. Please see your OVIS advisor before accepting any employment, paid or unpaid, or volunteer positions.
If you choose to work on-campus and/or plan on receiving a graduate stipend, be advised that you will also have to apply for a U.S. social security number, unless you already have one. The application must be done in-person at a Social Security Administration office. Once you receive the number, you must provide your number to the Dartmouth Payroll Office. You may find further information about this and other pre-arrival information, such as applying for a New Hampshire driver's license, on our website: https://ovis-intl.dartmouth.edu/.
Additional information about F-1 employment can be found on the OVIS website.
Maintenance of F-1 status
OVIS reviews the requirements of F-1 student status at orientation and throughout your academic program as required. To maintain valid F-1 student status, you must enter the United States using the Form I-20 issued by the institution where you intend to enroll (Dartmouth), no later than the start date listed on the form.
- While at Dartmouth, you must be enrolled as a full-time student in a full course of study each term.
- You must not accept unauthorized employment.
- You are required to notify OVIS of any changes to your residential address within ten (10) days of any move.
- You are required to notify OVIS of any change in funding within ten (10) days of the change.
- You are required to notify OVIS of any changes to your academic program within ten (10) days of any update.
Additional information about maintenance of F-1 status can be found on the OVIS website.