Spring 2022 | Week 2

Spring 2022 | Weekly Updates for International Students @ UC San Diego

Dear Campus Colleagues,

Welcome to Spring Quarter! Thank you for your continued collaboration and partnership in supporting our international students. ISPO strives to provide information on how these will impact current processes, international students, and campus partners. See important announcements below. Please contact ISPO and let us know how we can continue to support your efforts.

Updates and Information

Continued Use of Electronic Signatures on Form I-20

Following months of allowing electronic signatures and transmission of Form I-20s due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, on October 12, 2021, the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) announced that it has formally adopted these practices moving forward.

ISPO is pleased by this announcement as it creates a more efficient and less burdensome request process for our F-1 students. We will therefore continue to issue electronic Form I-20s with digital signatures to our F-1 students via the iPortal.

NOTE: The Department of State, which governs the J-1 Exchange Visitor Program, still does not permit the electronic transmission of or ARO signature on Form DS-2019 documents. Therefore, those seeking J-1 status or who are in J-1 status are still required to obtain hard copy DS-2019s when requesting these documents from ISPO. 

NEW: 2021 UC San Diego International Student Admissions, Enrollment and Alumni Employment Data Available

ISPO is pleased to announce its updated reports and dashboards reflecting admissions, enrollment and alumni data from 2021. We encourage you to take a look and see where our talented and diverse international student population is making its impact and UC San Diego and beyond!

J-1 Student On-Campus Work Authorization Requirements

ISPO would like to remind employers of international students in J-1 status that these students must receive work authorization from ISPO before beginning any employment or internship on campus, per J-1 regulatory guidance. This includes GSRs and teaching assistantships. If you are working on hiring any J-1 international students, please ensure they have this authorization by reviewing their On-Campus Employment Authorization Letter from ISPO before they begin work.

Note: this does not apply to F-1 students.

Staff Updates

Congratulations to Pauline Airla Deguzman, ISPO's new Assistant Director of Student Services!

Pauline began her role on December 1st, 2021 but has been with ISPO since 2017, as an international student advisor. She moved on to serve as the Manager of Student Services in March of 2020, where she led ISPO's advising team in reimagining virtual services to meet international students' needs during the pandemic. Pauline continues to bring compassion and a collaborative spirit to the work she does to support the international triton community.

Pauline will begin to serve as a primary contact within ISPO for campus colleagues for the following:

International Students of Concern
Academic Disqualification
Suspensions
Immigration Policy Interpretations & Exceptions
Advising services & daily operations

You may contact Pauline directly at pfdeguzman@ucsd.edu.

Resources for Supporting International Students

Tax Resources and Workshops for International Students

International students looking for general tax guidance and resources for this year's filing season are encouraged to visit ISPO's Tax Guidance for International Students page. While ISPO is unable to offer students specific tax advice, these resources may help. Students are also invited to attend this year's virtual Federal and State Tax Workshops, organized by the International Faculty & Scholars Office (IFSO) and may register via the link above.

Commencement 2022: Support for International Students and Families

In anticipation of June's commencement ceremonies, ISPO is providing international students and their families with travel- and visa-related resources and support again this year on our Graduating from UC San Diego page. Please feel free to refer students here who may be seeking guidance and letters of support for travel to this year's ceremony. Congratulations, Class of 2022!

New Student Resources: Visa Document Requests for Summer and Fall 2022

Newly-admitted international students for this summer/fall have been able to submit their visa document requests via the iPortal (iPortal.ucsd.edu) as of March 1, 2022. Students are highly encouraged to visit our New Student pages with helpful instructions and checklists to assist them in beginning their journey as an international student at iNewStudent.ucsd.edu.

Early Start Program Requests

If your department plans to run an in-person Summer 2022 early start or prep program that requires international participants to arrive prior to August 20, 2022, please notify ISPO by completing the Early Start Program Form immediately so that ISPO can issue the correct visa documents for these students.

Questions and Resources

In order to support our departments, ISPO has a dedicated Campus Partners page with resources for you to help navigate common questions you might get from newly-admitted international students. If you have any case-specific concerns or issues, please feel free to contact our team at iNewStudent@ucsd.edu.

Stay Up to Date on the Latest ISPO Newsletters

If you've missed a recent ISPO News for Campus Partners or are interested in reviewing the information we regularly send out to our international student population (current students as well as new students), we encourage you to view our ISPO News page (iNews.ucsd.edu) for recent issues.