If you require any disability support, please contact Disability Support Services at: https://www.counseling.umd.edu/ads/.
Beware of Scams
We wanted to alert you to a scam that some international students are reporting: Several new students received phone calls from a phone number that appears to be from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), a US government agency. In reality, the phone call was from a scammer who claimed to be a government official. The scammers requested students to buy a pre-paid credit card and then provide the numbers over the phone. Students, fearing trouble from the IRS, followed the instructions and have since lost thousands of dollars! Please be careful and do not let this happen to you!
This is a useful excerpt from a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Study in the States article on avoiding scams: "Do pay your school tuition and established fees. However, it is important to know that the government will never contact you on [phone or] social media to collect funds and a responsible designated school official (DSO) would not demand extra money to fulfill their responsibilities to you as a student."
You will be here soon and one of the first big tasks to take care of is reporting your arrival to ISSS and getting your F-1 or J-1 record activated in SEVIS.
Reminder Tip: If you have not done so...
Check-in with ISSS by attending one of the F-1 or J-1 Immigration Sessions AND
Complete your iTerp Check-In.
When you arrive at the Immigration Session:
Be sure to check-in with Staff upon arrival! Attendance is recorded since this session is required.
Before or after attending the Immigration Session complete a Documents Check-In at iTerp:
Log on to
iTerp, select "New Student Check-In" from the side menu, and then select
"Documents Check-In." Upload the requested documents and your US contact information and click "submit." ISSS will use this information to "activate" your F-1/J-1 immigration status in the government's database, SEVIS, thus reporting your arrival to campus.
Attend other ISSS Orientation Events
In addition to the required Immigration Session, take advantage of a full program of fun and informative Orientation Week events August 20- 24. These events are designed to aid your transition to life at UMD, College Park, and the United States. We also hope you will have fun and meet others!
Choose sessions listed under the "Session Signups" menu. Click on various sessions to view descriptions. Next, find the date the event is offered in the calendar (location/time are published there). Click "sign up" for each event you plan to attend.
If no more seats are available for a session you want to attend:
If you are not able to register for an elective session you want to attend because it is "full," we encourage you to show up at the event anyway--ISSS can usually accommodate extra people.
Welcome to UMD and looking forward to meeting you at Orientation events very soon!
We hope that you find these emails informative and helpful, we look forward to meeting you soon!
