If you plan to transfer from UB to another school or vice versa, you may need a SEVIS Transfer.
For immigration purposes, “transfer” simply means that a student is transferring from one school’s SEVIS program to another school’s SEVIS program. This can happen when the student:
You must complete the SEVIS transfer procedures if:
Consider the following points when deciding the date to have your SEVIS record transferred to the new school:
If you are enrolled in summer courses at UB and plan to request a SEVIS transfer keep in mind that:
To be eligible for a SEVIS transfer, your new degree program must begin within 5 months of your last date of enrollment or degree program completion date, or within 5 months of the end of your OPT.
You can transfer to another school during the 60-day grace period after your OPT, as long as the transfer release date occurs within the grace period.
You must begin classes within 5 months of your transfer release date or the date your OPT authorization ends, whichever is earlier.
Your OPT work authorization will end on your transfer release date. Therefore, if you wish to complete your OPT, your transfer release date must be after your OPT ends.
As part of the application process, some schools will ask you to submit a “transfer form,” which UB’s International Student Services must complete. On this form, we will confirm your F-1 student status.
If your new school requires that UB complete a transfer form before they will grant you admission, please provide that form to ISS. Once you have an admission letter from your new school, you should follow the directions below and complete the “SEVIS Transfer Request” e-form.
ISS will review your “SEVIS Transfer Request” e-form and, if all required documents were submitted, will electronically send your SEVIS record to the school you requested. Your new school can then create your new I-20. To find out when your new I-20 will be ready, please contact your new school.
After we release your SEVIS record to another school, ISS will no longer have access to your SEVIS record nor will we be able to make revisions to your I-20. Please be certain of your transfer decision before asking us to release your SEVIS record.
Traveling while your transfer is pending may be risky, depending on when your SEVIS record is released, when you will begin your new program, etc. Therefore, we urge you to inform ISS about the details of your travel plans so that we can best advise you.
If you are a continuing student, you can work on-campus at the school that currently has control over your SEVIS record. Therefore, if you are working at UB, you must stop working once your SEVIS record has been transferred to your new school.
Your OPT will automatically end once your SEVIS record has been transferred. You may not work after that point. Therefore, please choose your transfer release date accordingly.
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