Carefully read the instructions listed below, then use the button at the bottom of this page to start your Reinstatement Eligibility Screening.
Overview
A reinstatement COE (Form I-20) is a document issued to F-1 visa students who have violated their F-1 status. The form is known as the Certificate of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant Student Status.
For general information about reinstatement eligibility refer to the Department of Homeland Security Website here
Steps to follow
- Read the Reinstatement Instructions carefully and complete all required forms before requesting Reinstatement Eligibility Screening. Read the instructions here
- Sign the Statement of Understanding to proceed. Sign the Statement of understanding here
- Complete the Financial Sponsor Form here
Note: You will be required to submit all the documents in the steps above when you are completing the Reinstatement Eligibility Screening forms
Remember that you must provide a valid reason to request reinstatement. Please read the eligibility criteria below.
Do not submit anything to USCIS yet.
Eligibility for Reinstatement
Under federal regulation, an F-1 student is only eligible for reinstatement if all of the following conditions apply:
- Has not been out of status for more than 5 months at the time of filing the request for reinstatement (or demonstrates that the failure to file within the 5 month period was the result of exceptional circumstances and that the student filed the request for reinstatement as promptly as possible under these exceptional circumstances)
- Does not have a record of repeated or willful violations of the Service regulations
- Currently pursuing, or intending to pursue, a full course of study in the immediate future at the school which issued the Form I-20.
- Has not engaged in unauthorized employment.
- Not deportable on any ground other than section 237(a)(1)(B) or (C)(i) of the Act; and
- Establishes to the satisfaction of USCIS, by a detailed showing, either that:
- The violation of status resulted from circumstances beyond the student’s control. Such circumstances might include serious injury or illness, closure of the institution, a natural disaster, or inadvertence, oversight, or neglect on the part of the DSO, but do not include instances where a pattern of repeated violations or where a willful failure on the part of the student resulted in the need for reinstatement; or
- The violation relates to a reduction in the student’s course load that would have been within a DSO’s power to authorize, and that failure to approve reinstatement would result in extreme hardship to the student.