image of international students walking towards office of global services

OGS MONTHLY UPDATE: SEPTEMBER

Updates and Announcements

Global Buddies Outreach Request

As we prepare for the new semester, we’re excited to launch the Fall 2025 cohort of Global Buddies, and we’d greatly appreciate your help in spreading the word to your students, both domestic and international. Global Buddies is a vibrant initiative designed to foster cross-cultural dialogue and build lasting friendships between US and international students. Participants will engage in a series of events throughout the semester, centered on social justice, cultural exchange, mutual understanding, and relationship building. Encourage your students to apply by September 19th to be part of this enriching experience. If you have any questions, please email ihub@nyu.edu.

US Passport Drive

Need to apply for or renew a US passport? Apply conveniently on campus at the Office of Global Services on September 16, during the NYU Passport Drive. The New York Passport Agency will be at 383 Lafayette Street from 10am until 3pm to accept passport applications (both new and renewal). There's a limited number of appointments available, so sign up to reserve your spot today. You must bring a complete set of application documents with you on the day of the drive. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to the Office of Global Services.

A New Tool to Support Your Students’ Global Readiness: Free for NYU Programs

Help your students thrive abroad, on campus, and in any intercultural setting with the Power Skills Accelerator, an online, modular training and assessment experience designed to build and measure career-critical skills like leadership, adaptability, and global communication

Tailored for NYU, the Accelerator integrates easily before, during, or after global learning experiences, and includes:
A baseline skills assessment before the program
Guided skill-building through CulturaSkills content customized for NYU

A post-program assessment to measure growth and career readiness.
Students have praised the program as “thoughtful,” “practical,” and “confidence-boosting.” Faculty and staff will find it flexible, engaging, and simple to implement. OGS already uses it in the International Student Transition Program and is expanding it to Global Buddies, Give Where You Live, and Alternative Breaks. Have a program that could benefit? Learn more and explore integration options.

Reminder on Career Resource for Students: Interstride

OGS and the Wasserman Center continue to bring the NYU community a great resource for international students as well as students looking to work abroad: Interstride. Interstride is an interactive portal to support students’ global job search. Students can access resources for navigating the immigration journey, find jobs from international-student friendly employers, access country guides supporting job searches across the globe, and more! Students can find Interstride by searching for the “Interstride” card at NYUHome.

Key Highlights for International Students This Month

All international students need to be registered full-time for the spring semester in order to maintain their legal status in the United States. Keep in mind that international students who are unable to register full time must receive OGS permission to register for a reduced course load in order to keep their immigration status valid. For undergraduate students a minimum of 12 credits is considered full-time enrollment; for graduate students, typically a minimum of 9 credits is considered full-time enrollment. US immigration regulations require that only up to 3 credits or one class of online coursework can be counted toward full-time enrollment. International students must enroll in enough in-person courses to meet the full-time enrollment requirement. Please see the Registration Guideline for Academic Departments for more information.
Please inform OGS as soon as possible if a student is dismissed or withdraws so that we can advise students on their options regarding their immigration status. If OGS can communicate with students before any such action is taken, they typically will have more and better immigration options. We’re required to notify the US government within 21 days of an action so your timely help in this is essential!
OPT season will start soon for December graduates! For those of you who review and approve an international student’s OPT request that comes to you via email, we hope this Reviewing an OPT Request video proves useful.
As always, all emails sent to continuing students are directly linked from our Immigration Updates and Events web page.
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