OGE Resources for Faculty/Staff

We want to remind all departments of the requirements that F-1 students need to abide by to maintain their immigration status:

Undergraduate Students – Students are required to enroll in a minimum of 12 credits to maintain their immigration status. Of these, at least 9 credits must be taken in person or in a hybrid format, while no more than 3 online credits may count toward the full-time requirement. As long as a student is enrolled in 9 in-person credits, any additional coursework may be completed online. In a student’s final semester, they may enroll part-time; however, their remaining course cannot be taken online, and both the student and their advisor must submit a reduced course load recommendation.

Master’s Students – Students are required to enroll in a minimum of 9 credits to maintain their immigration status. Of these, at least 6 credits must be taken in person or in a hybrid format, while no more than 3 online credits may count toward the full-time requirement. As long as a student is enrolled in 6 in-person credits, any additional coursework may be completed online. In a student’s final semester, they may enroll part-time; however, their remaining course cannot be taken online, and both the student and their advisor must submit a reduced course load recommendation.

International students must maintain continuous enrollment in in-person coursework throughout the entire semester. Students can enroll in just Session A courses (14 week semester), Session B (first 7 weeks of the semester) and C courses (second 7 weeks of the semester), or a combination of both. Students who choose to enroll only in Sessions B and C must register for in-person credits in both sessions, ensuring there is no gap in in-person enrollment. In addition, their combined course load across Sessions B and C must total at least 9 in-person credits for the semester. Students may not enroll exclusively in Session B or exclusively in Session C courses. At no point during the semester may a student be without an active course registration.

Doctoral Students – Doctoral students who are registered only for dissertation credits still must complete the reduced course recommendation.

Please see our page on Reduced Course Loads for more information.

We would also like to remind you that, if you are ever unsure about the federal regulations for international students regarding their registration (ie., minimum credit requirements, in-person, requirement, last semester, etc.) please reach out to us at oge@montclair.edu. We will be happy to answer your questions.

We will carefully monitor registrations; students who do not follow these guidelines will be at risk of losing their immigration status.

According to the Code of Federal Regulations, all students must study full-time every required term (fall and spring semesters) and progress toward the completion of their academic programs [8 CFR 214.2(f)(5)(I)]. Students may be approved for a Reduced Course Load (RCL) only for documented medical reasons or for a very limited number of academic reasons. Additionally, students are allowed to take fewer than a full-time course load if it is their final semester and they need fewer credits to complete their program.

When F-1 students request a reduced course load, an email from OGE is generated and sent to the advisor/faculty member for recommendation. Please be sure you complete the form in order for the OGE to approve the student’s request.

Please see here for more information about the different types of reduced course load requests: Reduced Course Loads.

All independent study courses for F-1 students must have a face-to-face component (at least 50% of the time must be in person). International students on an F-1 visa are highly discouraged from taking more than one independent study course per semester. The federal government requires that F-1 students take the majority of their courses in a face-to-face format and make normal progress to graduate on time.

Students are discouraged from traveling during the semester as it may lead to additional questioning from CBP upon reentry. If a student must travel outside the USA, during the semester, they must communicate this with their professors. OGE must be contacted if a student is looking to leave the U.S. for more than 1 week while classes are in session.

International students need authorization from the OGE for any type of employment, social security, program extensions, reduced course loads, and leaves of absence. The student will submit this request to the OGE through MyGlobal Portal. These requests generate an email to the academic advisor (or supervisor if on-campus employment). The advisor/supervisor will have to log in to MyGlobal Portal to complete a form to confirm the provided information. Incomplete forms cannot be processed so read carefully and complete each section before submitting it.

An international student can work on campus 20 hours per week while classes are in session and more than 20 hours during breaks/holidays.

If the student already has a social security number then the student needs to be directed to Human Resources to complete the I-9. If the student does not have a social security number then the student needs to complete the social security request in MyGlobal Portal. Once they complete the request, the supervisor will receive an email from our portal in the student’s name confirming employment. The process to obtain a social security number can take 2-3 weeks. However with the receipt notice from social security the student can go to HR.

International Student Orientation dates