An electronic news service for international students and scholars, owned by the Office of International Student and Scholar Services at Binghamton University, State University of New York

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CONTENTS:

1. National Holidays for May
2. Attention: Graduate Assistants and Teaching Assistants on the State Payroll and Other Students Who Work On-Campus
3. Last International Coffee Hour for This Academic Year Friday, May 5
4. President DeFleur to Speak at International Student Graduation Reception on May 13
5. Early Registration for Fall 2006 Ends May 9
6. Practical Training Update from the ISSS
7. IRS Reports E-Mail Scam Regarding Income Tax Refunds
8. Accessing Health Services, Library Services and Off Campus Bus Services During the Summer
9. U.S. Immigration Requirements If You are Leaving Binghamton Permanently
10. H-1B Cap Count: USCIS Let's You Watch the Numbers
11. Planning to Travel Outside the United States With a Child?

1. National Holidays for May

The following countries are celebrating national holidays during May

2. Attention: Graduate Assistants and Teaching Assistants on the State Payroll and Other Students Who Work On-Campus

Any graduate assistants or teaching assistants who are completing their studies this semester are reminded that it is critical that they provide the Human Resource Office (4 th floor Couper Administration Building) with a permanent home address for the remainder of 2006 to insure that all W-2 forms for income received in 2006 can be mailed to the correct address next January.

In addition, any hourly student workers on the State Payroll or other campus payrolls (such as Sodexho Dining Services) who are completing their studies this semester are also reminded to provide the Human Resource Office (4 th floor Couper Administration Building), if you are on the New York State payroll, or the payroll office of any other campus employer with an address for the remainder of 2006, to insure that all W-2 forms for income received in 2006 can be mailed to the correct address next January.

3. Last International Coffee Hour for This Academic Year Friday, May 5

Good company! Free food! Hot and cold beverages! Celebrate the end of classes for the Spring semester by coming to this month's International Coffee Hour on Friday, May 5 from 3:30-5pm in the University Union Old Union Hall. This month's sponsor is the Watson School.

We look forward to seeing you on Friday, May 5.

4. President DeFleur to Speak at International Student Graduation Reception on May 13

We are delighted that so many international exchange students and graduating students have informed the ISSS that they will be attending the 20 th Annual International Student Graduation Reception in the University Union Mandela Room, Saturday, May 13 at 7:00pm.

President DeFleur will be the featured speaker at the International Student Graduation Reception! The student speaker will be Aclan Okur, who will receive the Bachelor of Science degree from the Watson School of Engineering.

This year, we are once again using a web invitation and response form, and have already notified all Spring 2006 graduates and exchange students completing their programs of the link, which is:
http://isss.binghamton.edu/prog/gradRecInvite.htm

The invitation states that your response is due by Monday, May 8. If you will be graduating, or completing your exchange program this month, come join the ISSS staff and your fellow students for good food, elegant atmosphere, short speech making, (only three!), lots of photo opportunities and special recognition gifts for our graduates. President DeFleur will be there! You should be there, too!!

Students who graduated in December 2005 or who will graduate in Summer 2006 and would like to participate in the International Student Graduation Reception should also use the invitation link, above.

Please note that the International Student Graduation Reception is separate from the University's official Commencement ceremonies, which will be held the following week on Saturday, May 20 for graduate students and Sunday, May 21 for undergraduate students. For more information on the Commencement ceremonies, visit:
http://commencement.binghamton.edu/

5. Early Registration for Fall 2006 Ends May 9

Advance registration for all students for Fall 2006 continues from now through Tuesday, May 9. Secure next semester's courses NOW by registering on-line using the BUSI (Binghamton University Student Information) system. BUSI is available from 8:00 am to 6:00 am (22 hours/day) seven days a week during this time period.

Students can access the registration system at any of the BUSI Centers on campus, the computer pods (providing a class is not in session), or any other computer with on-line access by going to http://busi.binghamton.edu Downloading BUICK may be required.

After registration, you can look at your schedule on BUSI or the BUSI web at any time. Classrooms will be assigned in mid-August. Please look on-line or in the printed schedule of classes (available in late August) for your classroom assignments.

6. Practical Training Update from the ISSS

If you are graduating in May, are in F-1 status, and have been planning to apply for optional practical training post-graduation, but have not yet done so, do not delay! May graduates must send their completed applications to the USCIS Vermont Processing Center so that it arrives there before May 21, 2006, which is the completion date for May graduates. Thus, only three weeks remain, and we remind our F-1 students to allow 7-10 business days for the ISSS portion of the processing of OPT applications.

Students who will be graduating in Summer 2006 should also consider beginning the application process now, so that they will receive their work authorization cards in a timely manner. Traditionally, the ISSS has advised students to allow 12 weeks for application processing. You are urged to consider these dates when submitting your paperwork. Applications are available in the ISSS.

Once you receive your EAD card, please bring it to the ISSS so that a copy can be made for your file. This will prove very useful to you in case the card is ever lost or misplaced. Remember: you cannot begin employment any earlier than the starting date on the EAD card.

7. IRS Reports E-Mail Scam Regarding Income Tax Refunds

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has reported an e-mail scam involving tax refunds. In this scam, individuals have reported receiving an email that appears to be from the IRS soliciting information regarding how to deposit a refund into the person's bank account.

The scam emails ask the person to click on a link and provide their ATM pin, as well as other personal information.

The IRS urges recipients of this message NOT to reply to it, NOT to click on the link in the e-mail, and NOT to provide any personal data or banking data via email.  The IRS NEVER sends e-mails regarding a tax refund for a personal tax return. The IRS currently uses ONLY the U.S. postal service to communicate with taxpayers.

8. Accessing Health Services, Library Services and Off Campus Bus Services During the Summer

BU students remaining in the Binghamton area for the summer (but who are not registered for Summer Session) frequently ask the ISSS about their ability to utilize services during the summer months, such as the Library, University Health Service, and Bus Services.

Any BU student can continue to use the library in the summer with their expired May 2006 BU ID. A student wishing to visit University Health Service in the summer, but who is not registered for the Summer Session, will be asked to pay a nominal one-time fee at the Office of Student Accounts per Summer Term. In order to ride OCCT and BC Transit, non-summer registered BU graduate students must go to the Office of Student Accounts and pay a $30 summer bus pass fee. Then, bring the receipt for payment to the Registrar's Office, and the Registrar's Office will issue a special card valid to ride the buses this summer.

9. U.S. Immigration Requirements If You are Leaving Binghamton Permanently

ISSS staff are often asked what the immigration requirements are if a student will no longer be continuing at Binghamton, either because the student is returning to his/her home country, or is beginning Practical Training or Academic Training, or because the student is going to begin study at a new school.

Regardless of your plans, retain your old I-20s (or DS-2019s)! These forms represent your immigration history in the U.S. and should be kept in a safe place as you would any important document. In addition, you must complete a departure/change of address form, available on the ISSS website at http://isss.binghamton.edu/depForm.html

The immigration regulatory process for transferring your F-1 status from Binghamton to a new U.S. school requires you to complete a SEVIS Release Form with the ISSS so that your federal SEVIS record can be transferred to your new school. The SEVIS Release Form may be obtained in the ISSS or downloaded at: http://isss.binghamton.edu/pubs/SEVISReleaseForm.pdf. Also, follow your new school's instructions for obtaining your I-20, and for reporting to that school in a timely fashion.

Students who will be ending their studies in May but have no plans to apply for practical training (F-1), academic training (J-1) or continue at a new school or in a new field or level of study, or seek a change of non-immigrant status must depart the United States within sixty days of completion of their academic program if they are in F-1 status, or within thirty days if they are in J-1 status.

10. H-1B Cap Count: USCIS Let's You Watch the Numbers

US Citizenship and Immigration Services began to process H-1B applications on April 1, 2006 for the federal fiscal year beginning October 1, 2006. For H-1B applicants subject to the visa cap, knowing how many cap-subject H-1B visas have been issued can be very important information, because once the visas have been allotted, there will be none available until the start of the NEXT fiscal year, October 1, 2007. The current cap includes 65,000 H-1B visas and an additional 20,000 for those who have received at least a Master's degree from a US college or university.

USCIS has posted a “cap count” chart on its website, that is periodically updated. To view it, visit: http://www.uscis.gov/graphics/services/tempbenefits/cap.htm

Later this week, ISSS will also make this link permanently available from its webpage, where it will be found in the “Immigration” section under H-1B.

11. Planning to Travel Outside the United States With a Child?

If you have a child (or children) with you in the United States, and plan to travel abroad with them this Spring or Summer, we recommend that you read an important article on the ISSS web site about travel with children. The article specifically addresses issues when only one parent is traveling with the children. Visit:
http://isss.binghamton.edu/travel/parent&child.html

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