November Newsletter

·    Panel Discussion on Dance and Identity

·          Orientation Volunteers Needed

·          OPT Applications for December Graduates - Don't Forget!

·          Early Registration for Spring 2007

·          Beginning a New Degree Program at UNC Charlotte?

·          International Coffee Hour Dates in November

·          Marian and Denise out of the office  Monday-Tuesday, Nov 13th & 14th

·          Thanksgiving Holiday and ISSO Office Hours

·          Christmas International House Sign-Up

·          International Education Week is Nov. 14-18

·          Check the End Date on your Immigration Documents

·          How to request forms Online

·          Planning Dec/Jan. Travel Outside the U.S. - Important Reminders!

·          Diversity “Green Card” Lottery

Panel Discussion on Dance and Culture

A teacher in the Dance and Theater department is looking for International Students with cultural dance experience to take part in a panel discussion on dance and identity.  The panel will likely happen sometime during the first two weeks of November.  No professional experience necessary, just those who have an understanding and desire to share feelings about their culture and its dance.  Please contact Gary Larsen at ext 7-6663 or by email glarsen@email.uncc.edu

Orientation Volunteers Needed
New international students will soon be arriving!  We will hold orientation programs on January 3^rd & 4^th and we could use your help in welcoming and orienting them.  If you are interested and will be available, please contact Denise at dvmedei@email.uncc.edu .

OPT for December Graduates

Remember - students who are interested in and eligible for Optional Practical Training (OPT) must apply PRIOR TO GRADUATION.  For December graduates, this is December 1^st 2006.  More information is available at http://www.isso.uncc.edu/optcpt.htm or in the ISSO.

Early Registration for Spring 2007

Spring 2007 registration begins on Monday, November 13, 2006.  To register for classes, first, login to 49er express.  In the green box, select the link ‘Banner Self Service’.  Click ‘Student & Financial Aid’, then ‘Registration’ and then chose from a list of links to view courses, add/drop courses, etc.   

For undergraduates, don’t forget to schedule an appointment with your academic advisor!

Beginning a New Degree Program at UNC Charlotte?

If you are moving from a Bachelor to a Master, Master to PhD, or PhD to Master in the spring semester, it is critical that your immigration record reflect this change and a new I-20 or DS-2019 be created for you.  Please pick up your new document at the beginning of the spring semester in the ISSO, or if you are traveling outside the U.S. during the winter break, pick it up prior to your departure, as you MUST use this new document to re-enter the U.S.

International Coffee Hour Dates in November

Thursday, November 2^nd, 4-6pm.

Thursday, November 16^th, 4-6pm (celebrating International Education Week!).

The ISSO will be closed Nov 13-14

November 13-14 the staff will be at a conference and unable to do any advising on these two days.  If you have any documents that need to be signed or questions for Marian, Denise, or Debbie, please plan accordingly.

Thanksgiving Holiday and Office Hours

As you may or may not know, there are no classes from Wednesday, Nov.22^nd through Saturday, Nov. 25^th and the ISSO will be closed on Wednesday through Friday of that week.   

The actual Thanksgiving holiday is on Thursday, Nov. 23.  For more information about this and other U.S. holidays, you can visit www.holidays.net 

Christmas International House
Are you interested in spending the Christmas holiday with an American family in another part of the U.S.?  Consider applying for Christmas International House, an ecumenical program started in 1965 by the Presbyterian Church (USA). For more information and an application, visit www.christmasih.org

 

“International Education Week”: November 13-17

Preparations are underway nationwide for the 7^th Annual International Education Week, November 13-17, part of the implementation of former President Clinton’s directive calling for an International education policy for the United States.  Your being here in the United States is an important part of this commitment to the mutual exchange of ideas, leading toward intercultural understanding and more peaceful relations in the world.  For more information, go to http://iew.state.gov

 

Check the End Date on your Immigration Documents

Just a reminder to take a look at the ending date on your I-20 (item #5) or DS-2019 (item #3).  If you still need more time to finish your program, you MUST fill out a Program Extension Form from the ISSO prior to the end date on your document so that we can produce a new document for you.

Requesting Forms Online

Did you know you can request forms such as OPT/CPT, letters of enrollment, letters for invitations, etc. online? Well, you can, and it’s easy!  Visit the ISSO website; www.isso.uncc.edu, click on the link in the left hand column titled “Request Forms”, and start requesting the forms you need.  Please allow 2 to 3 days processing time.



Planning International Travel?

The holidays are approaching and if you are traveling outside the U.S. you should take a look at your immigration documents to make sure everything is in order for your re-entry.  Is your passport valid?  Is your visa valid?  Is your I-20 or DS-2019 valid?  Has it been signed on p.3 (I-20s) or p.1 (DS-2019s) by either Marian or Denise in the last year?  If you need a signature, please bring it to the ISSO in early December and leave 2-3 days processing time rather than waiting until the LAST MINUTE to get this done!

Diversity “Green Card” Lottery

The annual DV program makes permanent residence visas available to persons meeting the simple, but strict, eligibility requirements. Applicants for Diversity Visas are chosen by a computer-generated random lottery drawing. The visas, however, are distributed among six geographic regions with a greater number of visas going to regions with lower rates of immigration, and with no visas going to citizens of countries sending more than 50,000 immigrants to the U.S. in the past five years. Within each region, no one country may receive more than seven percent of the available Diversity Visas in any one year.

For DV-2008, natives of the following countries are not eligible to apply because they sent a total of more than 50,000 immigrants to the U.S. in the previous five years:

BRAZIL, CANADA, CHINA (mainland-born), COLOMBIA, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, EL SALVADOR, HAITI, INDIA, JAMAICA, MEXICO, PAKISTAN, PHILIPPINES, PERU, POLAND, RUSSIA, SOUTH KOREA, UNITED KINGDOM (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and VIETNAM. Persons born in Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR and Taiwan are eligible.

For more information, go to http://www.dvlottery.state.gov