1. Please Come to the ISSS to Pick Up Your Health Insurance ID Card
2. Employment Workshop on US Job Interviews Friday, March 24
3. Off Campus Employment Worries
4. The Clock is Ticking on Some Practical Training Applications
5. Fall 2007 Schedule of Classes Coming Soon
6. Income Tax Information: Important Items to Remember When Completing Income Tax Forms

1. Please Come to the ISSS to Pick Up Your Health Insurance ID Card

The Spring 2007 ID Cards for the International Student Health Insurance Plan have now arrived in the Office of International Student and Scholar Services. All international students, except for those graduate students with TA, GA or RPA funding, are covered under this health insurance policy.

Please come to the ISSS to pick up your Insurance ID card during our normal business hours. We are located in the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center, Room G-1. Office hours are:
Monday - Wednesday and Friday from 8:30am to 4:00pm
Thursday from 11:30am to 4:00pm.

You will be asked to present your BU ID card when you come to the ISSS.

The ISSS reminds international students to be sure to carry your health insurance card with you. In the event that you have to go to the hospital or see a doctor over a weekend because of a medical emergency, the hospital or clinic will ask you to present your health insurance card. If you do not have the card with you, the hospital or clinic will still provide treatment, but you will then have to give the hospital or clinic full information on health insurance coverage by the following business day.

Also, you may have to pay your own funds for prescription drugs at the hospital pharmacy, rather than have the costs submitted directly by the hospital to the insurance company, if you cannot present proof of insurance.

If you will be traveling during the next Spring break or once the semester ends, it is especially important to have your insurance ID with you.

Your Spring health insurance covers you through August 14, 2007 and the Fall health insurance coverage begins August 15, 2007.

2. Employment Workshop on US Job Interviews Friday, March 23

The fifth in a series of six employment workshops designed exclusively for international students will be held Friday, March 23 at 2:00pm in Career Development Center Workshop Room Library North Ground Floor 307.

Titled: “How to Prepare for a US Employment Interview" it offers tips to international students for participating in a successful job interview with U.S. employers. Learn what to expect and how to make a good impression. This workshop series is sponsored by the Career Development Center and the Office of International Student and Scholar Services.

3. Off Campus Employment Worries

In recent weeks, staff in the Office of International Student and Scholar Services have addressed several issues regarding off campus employment that have not had pleasant consequences for some students. A reminder: A student in F-1 or J-1 status cannot be employed away from the Binghamton University campus unless they have obtained appropriate federal authorization to do so before employment can begin. The only exception to this rule are F-1students who are working away from BU but are paid on a Binghamton University state or research foundation payroll.

• All off-campus internships must be authorized in advance
• Employment at another SUNY campus (such as Cortland or Oneonta) or Community College (such as Broome Community College) must be authorized in advance . Other SUNY campuses are no different than any other off-campus location; the employment must be authorized.

The U.S. government exacts heavy penalties for students who work without authorization.

Readers may wish to take note of the following two articles on the ISSS website:

Employment Overview
http://isss.binghamton.edu/emp/overview.html

Don't Place Your Immigration Status at Risk: Consequences of Illegal Employment
http://isss.binghamton.edu/emp/illegalemp.htm

The ISSS website has many resources on employment. Just visit http://isss.binghamton.edu and click on “Employment.”

If you have questions regarding employment, please do not hesitate to contact the International Student Advisor, Amelia Shafer at ashafer@binghamton.edu or Assistant Director, Karen Keefe-Guzikowski, kkeefe@binghamton.edu They are happy to assist you.

If you would like to make an appointment to discuss issues of employment, please call the ISSS office at (607) 777-2510.

4. The Clock is Ticking on Some Practical Training Applications

F-1 students who will be graduating in May 2007 and plan to apply for optional practical training are reminded that they must submit their application paperwork to the ISSS, and then send the processed documents to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) so that it is received at the USCIS before May 19 or 20, 2007, which are Binghamton University's degree conferral dates for May graduate and undergraduate students.

F-1 students who have not yet begun the practical training application process are urged to do so soon so that you will have the best possible opportunity to obtain your employment authorization card in a timely manner. Currently, it is taking the USCIS Vermont Service Center approximately 12 weeks to process OPT employment authorization applications. Employment cannot begin unless you have the card "in hand."

5. Fall 2007 Schedule of Classes Coming Soon

The Schedule of Classes for Fall 2007 will be available starting March 31 at http://busi.binghamton.edu/schedule.html . The online schedule is the most up to date and accurate source of course information and is the only published version of the Schedule of Classes.

Early registration for the Fall 2007 semester will begin April 12, 2007 and run until May 11, 2007. More information on early registration will be published in the next issue of ISSS-BU News .

6. Income Tax Information: Important Items to Remember When Completing Income Tax Forms

A number of students sometimes forget all of the necessary steps when completing their income tax forms. Here is a helpful reminder for ISSS-BU News readers:

• Remember that CINTAX -prepared income tax forms must be printed from the CINTAX website, and mailed by you to the Internal Revenue Service Center in Austin, Texas. Be sure to print the CINTAX instructions page, which provides all of the information you need for assembling and mailing your federal income tax forms.

• All income tax forms (federal and state) must be signed before mailing. Otherwise, they will be returned to you.
  
• Be sure to make a copy of your income tax forms before you mail them!

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.