The US Department of State announced an increase in consular service fees, which will affect the cost of obtaining a visa from a US Embassy/Consulate. Effective May 30, 2023, visa application processing fees will increase as follows:

The US Department of State has recently announced a change in regulations which will permit Responsible Officers (government-designated J-1 advisors) from OGS to digitally sign and transmit electronic copies of official Forms DS-2019. The digitally-signed Forms DS-2019 will be valid for official purposes, including visa applications and travel into the US.

Forms DS-2019 issued after April 27, 2023 will be signed and transmitted electronically. Please continue to review instructions that accompany any Form DS-2019 that we issue.

The federal deadline is April 18 if you earned US income in 2022. Confirm the deadline for the state(s) you will need to file taxes in. If you were in the US even for 1 day during 2022, then you have tax filing obligations. GLACIER Tax Prep (GTP), a free service for all NYU students and scholars, makes it easy to fulfill these obligations. For state taxes, Sprintax is available to use. Confused? Please refer to our tax resource page for information on how to file. 

Please review our International Visitor page for instructions on how your family can secure entry into the US. For graduates who are able to access the StudentLink Center in person, simply visit the StudentLink Center and meet with a StudentLink Counselor to receive your commencement letter of invitation. For graduates who are unable to access the StudentLink Center in person, email a request for a Commencement Invitation Letter to StudentLink@nyu.edu from your NYU email address.

Please find the most frequently asked questions that our staff has been receiving this week through phone calls and emails:

You should try your best to mail your tax form(s) by the deadline. Additionally, keep in mind that individuals with a non-resident tax status are not able to electronically file their tax forms. Since you cannot file electronically, you should be sure to mail your tax documents with the United States Post Office by the deadline to have your enveloped stamped and postmarked. Several United States Post Offices remain open for extended hours on the tax filing deadline date. 

If you had taxable income and are unable to file your forms by the April 18 deadline: You will need to mail a Form 4868 Automatic Extension of Time to File your Tax Return to the IRS by the tax filing deadline. Your application requesting the automatic extension will also need to be postmarked by the United States Post Office by the deadline. On the form, you will need to properly estimate your tax liability for the year, which is why we prefer you just submit the tax form that Glacier Tax Prep provides to you instead.

If you did not have any taxable income in the previous year: You have until June 15 to submit the Form 8843.

You may contact Glacier Tax Prep directly regarding federal income tax help and Sprintax for state tax help or consult with a tax professional from our list of resources on our Tax page. The IRS website also has information for ‘Filing a Past Due Tax Return’.

If you haven’t met with your academic/class advisor yet, please do so. The advisor you should meet with is the one that helps you with your degree audit. Once it is determined that you need more time to complete your program and your I-20’s program end date is ending, you should submit an Extension of Program request to OGS before the current end date that’s listed on the I-20 passes. You should do this as soon as possible, no later than 2 weeks before your I-20 program end date. Don’t wait until the last day.

An email was sent to all continuing students on Thursday, March 23, 2023 with the following information:

We anticipate that COVID exemptions will no longer be in place for the 2023-2024 academic year, therefore we request that students keep this information in mind in preparation for the Fall 2023 registration period. This means that all international students enrolled at NYU may take no more than 1 class or 3 credits of online class that would count towards the full-time enrollment requirement

For additional recent updates from OGS via email, you may refer to our Immigration Updates and Events webpage. If you have any further questions, please contact our office.