International Students - J-1 Students

You are required to comply with address change reporting obligations by notifying your International Student Advisor of an address change within 10 calendar days of the change. This includes address changes of you and any of your dependents. You may update your address via the Personal Data form . You should also update your address with the University system through your student portal. Changing your address in one system will notupdate the other system.

Any changes to your academic information such as change of major, adding a new major/minor or change of academic level, must be reported through SEVIS within 21 days of the change. Please contact the International Center to report any of the changes indicated above. Once changes have been made to your SEVIS record, an updated Form DS-2019 will be printed and provided to you. Please make sure that you always carry your most up-to-date DS-2019 with you when traveling or applying for any benefits. We also recommend that you keep all your Form DS-2019s for your records. 

International students are required to engage in a full course of study with very few exceptions. A full course of study is defined as 12 credit hours (undergraduate students) or 9 credit hours (graduate students) in the Fall and Spring terms. Attendance during the Summer term is optional unless you are a new international student who begins attending UNF during any Summer term, in which case you must be enrolled full-time. Exceptions to the full-time course registration requirement have to be approved by the International Center via the Requestfor Reduced Course Load form.

You are required to take a full-time course load on campus. If you wish to take an online course, you can do so after you have met your on-campus course requirement.

Note: If you only have one course to finish your program of study, it cannot be taken through online/distance education. There must be a physical presence requirement for the course.

In order to re-enter the United States, you must obtain a valid travel signature from your International Student Advisor. Your travel signature is generally valid for 12 months, however, you should always consult with the International Center at least two weeks prior to your trip outside the United States to make sure that the signature on your DS-2019 is still valid.

The Department of Homeland Security authorizes on-campus employment and off-campus practical work experience under certain circumstances for international students. All off-campus work must be authorized in advance by the International Center. Working without authorization is a serious violation of J-1 status.Please check our employment page  for information on working in the United States as an J-1 student. 

Have a valid, unexpired passport. The U.S. government requires that your passport is valid for at least six months after the date you enter or re-enter the U.S. If your country appears in the Passport Agreement List, you are allowed to enter the U.S. on your current passport up to the actual date of expiration. Your passport should always remain valid while you are in the U.S. Only your government can renew or extend your passport and it usually takes several weeks for a passport to be renewed, so be sure to allow enough time. Contact your country’s embassy or consulate in the U.S. for information. 

Every exchange visitor (both J-1 and J-2) is required to obtain health insurance which meets the minimum requirements specified at 22 CFR62.14 and Florida Board of Governor’s regulation 6.009. This insurance must be maintained throughout the entire program participation period. Please check our pre-arrival information page  for further information regarding the health insurance requirement during your studies at UNF.

Falling out of status carries severe penalties including loss of all benefits and forced departure from the United States. Applying for reinstatement requires paying a fee and can take many months, during which time you are ineligible for any international student benefits. It is sometimes preferable to leave the United States and apply for a new visa rather than apply for reinstatement.