1. Holiday Closing Dates for International Student and Scholar Services
2. Planned Computer Center Power Outage December 26-27
3. Paychecks and Direct Deposit Advices during Semester Break
4. Fingerprint Scans to Increase From Two to Ten at U.S. Ports of Entry
5. Department of State Announces New Non-Immigrant Visa Fees Effective Jan. 1, 2008
6. Five Years of Comparative International Student Data Now Available on the ISSS Website
7. Results of the 2008 Diversity Visa Lottery are Announced
8. Income Tax Issues [2]

1. Holiday Closing Dates for International Student and Scholar Services

The Office of International Student and Scholar Services, along with most other university offices, will be closed for what is traditionally known at the University as the "holiday shutdown" period. The official holiday shutdown starts on Tuesday, December 25, 2007 with offices re-opening on Wednesday, January 2, 2008, but many offices will have limited or no staff on Monday, December 24 as well.  During this period, there will be no mail delivery into or out of offices. Voice mail, e-mail and fax will be monitored periodically, but not every day.

International students and scholars who have paperwork that needs to be processed by the ISSS should note these dates and anticipate that after Friday, December 21, there will be a wait until January 2 before work resumes.  Remember not to wait until the last minute, as doing so may require you to wait until after January 2nd for documents to be returned to you!

2. Planned Computer Center Power Outage December 26-27

The Computer Center has announced a computing power outage for Wednesday and Thursday, December 26 and 27 while an emergency power generator is installed. This means that central computer and campus network resources will not be available during this time.

Desktop and laboratory computers operating as stand-alone devices outside the Computer Center will not be affected. The services that will be unavailable include:
1. The entire campus wired and wireless networks.
2. Electronic mail will be down, as will email forwarding to external mail servers.
3. Blackboard.
4. All Binghamton administrative applications (Oracle HR and Finance, Banner and CICS applications).
5. Pharos print system in Pods and Information Commons.
6. Software that requires access to a license manager (Matlab, ANSYS, Fluent, Solid Edge).
7. Kronos and the Card Access System.
8. Library on-line bibliographic resources.
9. Shared network storage devices (aka "H" drive or "S" drive).

Anyone attempting to connect to the binghamton.edu web server will be redirected to the backup server at Broome Community College that will contain a message explaining the situation. E-mail sent to binghamton.edu mail addresses will normally be held by the sending server. Users who anticipate critical email communications during this time should warn correspondents of the outage and may want to have alternate e-mail services for this period. When the BU servers are once again up, there is likely to be an extraordinary amount of mail that will have to be processed. Expect some initial delays.

3. Paychecks and Direct Deposit Advices during Semester Break

Students on the NY State Student Assistant payroll will be paid on both 12/20/2007 and 1/03/2008.  Paychecks for those student employees who have not made alternate arrangements with the Payroll Distribution Center will be mailed by Payroll to the address on the front of the check during the period 1/03-1/08/2008.  Direct Deposit advices will be held in the Payroll Distribution Center located in the old University Union Lobby, Room 105. These employees should pick up advices upon return to campus after break.  The Payroll Distribution Center will be open during semester break between the hours of 9:00am to 3:00pm Monday through Friday beginning January 2, 2008.

Faculty/Staff and Graduate/Teaching Assistants paid on 12/26/2007 who do not have electronic deposit will be able to pick up individual paychecks in the Payroll Distribution Center located in the old University Union Lobby, Room 105 on Wednesday 12/26/2007 between the hours of 8:00AM and 12:00 Noon.  Be sure to have a photo ID with you. 

4. Fingerprint Scans to Increase From Two to Ten at U.S. Ports of Entry

The Department of Homeland Security has announced that it is expanding its fingerprint scanning at US ports of entry from two fingerprints to ten.  The first airport to be equipped with ten finger-scanners is Dulles Airport in Virginia.  The change is designed to enhance security and improve fingerprint accuracy.  By the end of 2008, all US ports of entry will be equipped to scan ten fingerprints.  Already, most Department of State visa posts abroad are scanning ten fingerprints when issuing non-immigrant visas. To read the official Department of Homeland Security announcement, visit: http://www.dhs.gov/xnews/releases/pr_1197300742984.shtm

5. Department of State Announces New Non-Immigrant Visa Fees Effective Jan. 1, 2008

The U.S. Department of State has just announced that effective January 1, 2008, the application fee for a U.S. non-immigrant visa will increase from $100 to $131. Applicants who paid the prior $100 application fee before January 1 will be processed only if they are scheduled and appear for a visa interview before January 31.  Applicants who paid the prior $100 application fee and appear for visa interviews after January 31, 2008 must pay the difference -- $31 -- before they will be interviewed for a visa.  The most recent visa fee increase was in 2002.

To read the Department of State announcement, visit:
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2007/dec/97384.htm

6. Five Years of Comparative International Student Data Now Available on the ISSS Website

The ISSS website has been updated to include five year's worth of international student comparative data for the period 2003-2007. The data is in three tables in the Publications section of the ISSS website: http://isss.binghamton.edu

The direct links are:
International Student Enrollment by Country and World Region
http://isss.binghamton.edu/pubs/EnroCntry.html

Undergraduate International Student Enrollment by Field of Study
http://isss.binghamton.edu/pubs/ugdEnrFOS.html

Graduate International Student Enrollment by Field of Study
http://isss.binghamton.edu/pubs/GdEnrolFOS.html

7. Results of the 2008 Diversity Visa Lottery are Announced

On November 30, 2007, the U.S. Department of State announced the results of the 2008 diversity visa lottery, which was conducted on-line a year ago, from October 2006 to December 2006.  Notification of all winners was made by paper mail during spring and summer 2007.  6.4 million individuals submitted qualified applications for the lottery.

The official Department of State announcement may be read at:
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2007/nov/96044.htm

The 2009 diversity visa lottery ended on December 2, 2007, and results will be announced in Fall 2008.

8. Income Tax Issues [2]

Income Tax time is coming soon. Today ISSS-BU News answers three important tax questions for you.

Q. I’ve recently received a form W-8 BEN from my bank. What should I do with this form?

A. For those students who receive a form W-8 BEN from their bank, it is usually because you have opened up an interest-bearing account.  It is important that you complete the form and return it to your bank to certify your foreign status.  For complete information on how to fill out form W-8 BEN, go to the following web link: http://isss.binghamton.edu/taxes/formw8.html

Q. I am a full-time student at Binghamton, but I also receive a GA, TA or RA stipend. Is the stipend considered to be wages?

A. Yes, GA, TA, and RA stipends are all considered WAGES. Adjunct stipends are also wages. In general, if you receive payment for performing a service, that is considered to be wages and is taxed as income. Students with GA, TA or RA stipends are considered to be part-time employees.

The State or Research Foundation payroll offices will issue form W-2 (Wage and Tax Statement) in late January for wages you earned in calendar year 2007. The information on the W-2 will need to be included on your income tax return.

Q. During the 2007 calendar year, I worked at locations other than Binghamton University (for example, employment at a previous U.S. college or university, or authorized off campus employment). Should I be receiving a Wage and Tax Statement (form W-2) from that employer?
 
A. Yes! Each employer for whom you worked in 2007 is required to issue you a wage and tax statement prior to the end of January. However, students often change their addresses, so your former employer may not have your current address. Now is the time to contact your previous work places and inform them of your current address so that the W-2 form can be sent to you in a timely manner. Remember, by law, all employers MUST report your earnings to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. So, failure to receive a form W-2 from an employer does not eliminate the requirement that you report all taxable income earned from that employer.

ISSS-BU is a listserv owned and managed by the Office of International Student and Scholar Services, Division of Student Affairs, at the State University of New York at Binghamton. It is the publisher of ISSS-BU News . Permission is granted to freely distribute the information posted to this list as long as its contents remain unchanged.