Global Education Office

If you can…

• Comply with VCU’s COVID-19 vaccination policy, and
• Register for a Full Course of Study (FCS) as described below, and
• Enter the US by the dates indicated,

then you are eligible to study at VCU in the US for the fall 2022 semester.

For the latest VCU guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic, please visit together.vcu.edu/.

Full Course of Study (FCS) is an F-1 visa concept that is related to, but not identical with, similar sounding concepts of full-time study.  

F-1 students must register for a FCS every fall and spring semester of their VCU studies—and remain registered for a FCS for the duration of the semester.  

Failure to comply with the FCS requirement is a violation of the F-1 regulations and can lead to immediate loss of F-1 status.

FCS for the fall 2022 semester varies depending on which of the following two groups of F-1 visa students you are in:

For the fall 2022 semester, VCU will be offering courses in a variety of modalities, but not all courses will be offered in all modalities.

When completing a course search in Banner, you will see a column for each course titled Attribute, which indicates the course’s instructional modality.  

You may also use the Banner Advanced Search to search for courses taught in a specific modality. 

After clicking Advanced Search, choose the modality you are searching for by using the drop-down menu under Attribute.

For FCS purposes, VCU courses marked as follows count as “in person” instruction:

• Hybrid-flexible synchronous
• Hybrid-synchronous instruction
• Hybrid-asynchronous instruction
• Blended-flexible synchronous 
• Blended-asynchronous instruct
• Face-to-face instruction
• Direction instruction
  NOTE: This modality “involves individualized direct supervision or guidance, typically with no classroom instruction. The schedule is worked out with the supervising instructor or researcher and may be in person, online or some combination of modalities.  Details should be established through conversation with the supervising instructor or researcher before registration. Not required to take place on a specific day and time.”  For this modality to count as “in person” instruction, some percent of the schedule must at least some percent of documented, face-to-face meeting(s) between the instructor and F-1 student.

For FCS purposes, VCU courses marked as follows count as online instruction:

• Online-synchronous instruction
• Online-asynchronous instruction
  
  

For further information about these modalities, please review the information at

https://rar.vcu.edu/registration/registration-guide/course-modality/

Dates for entering the US for fall 2022 vary by which of the following two groups of F-1 visa students you are in:

If fall 2022 will be your first semester at VCU in the US in F-1 status, or you are re-entering with an Initial I-20 after a leave of absence or termination, you must check-in with the Global Education Office (GEO) after you arrive in the US.  

This Immigration check-in is for the purpose of ensuring that you were properly admitted by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to the US in F-1 status.  

The Immigration check-in will occur online only.

You will receive an email from GEOIS@vcu.edu after August 1, 2022 with instructions on how to complete this process.

Students should complete their Immigration check-in no later than August 29, 2022, the last day of the Add/Drop period.

Failure to complete Immigration check-in as directed by GEOIS may result in the loss of F-1 status (difficult and costly for you to restore).

If you want to travel to the US to study in person for the fall 2022 semester, please do the following before your arrival:

1. Review our international travel guidance at https://global.vcu.edu/students/travel/ to ensure that you understand and can comply with the U.S. government’s new COVID-19 vaccination requirement.
2. Review the guidance above to ensure that you are eligible to study at VCU in person for the fall 2022 semester.
3. Gather the following documents:
   • Passport valid for at least six months after the date of your intended admission to the US
   • Unexpired F-1 visa stamp in the passport. (Note: Citizens of Canada do not need F-1 visa stamps in their passports.)
   • Unexpired I-20 from VCU with a travel signature no older than 12 months on the date of your intended admission. 
     (Note: New students do not need a travel signature on their I-20s.)
4. Be aware of current US government COVID-19 related admission restrictions on travel to the US: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/international-travel-during-covid19.html

If you need to obtain an F-1 visa stamp in your passport before departing for the US, please contact the US consulate in your home country. F-1 visa stamps are not available from inside the US.   https://www.usembassy.gov/  

If you need to obtain an I-20 travel signature, please do the following:

Send an email to GEOIS@vcu.edu (subject line: I-20 Travel Signature)

In the text of the email include the following information

• Your full name
• Your V number
• Your city of birth
• Your current US address and telephone number (if any)

We need this information in order to process your I-20 travel signature request. 

We need 3-5 business days to process an I-20 travel signature request, so please request yours early!

After we receive the information above from you: 

• We will prepare an I-20 with a travel signature and email it to you as a .pdf (In accord with US government policy in effect for the duration of the pandemic, we will be providing I-20s by .pdf only.)
• You will then need to print the I-20 out on a color printer and sign the I-20 in blue ink and carry the newly travel signed I-20 with you as you return to the US. (Don’t just have the I-20 as a digital copy on your phone.)

If you have additional questions about studying at VCU in person for the fall 2022 semester, please send an email to GEOIS@vcu.edu and an advisor will respond to you shortly.