1. Are You Assisting New Spring 2008 Students?
2. Course Registration for Spring 2008
3. Important SEVIS Registration Information for International Students
4. Income Tax Information: Statement of Interest Earnings From Your Bank, Form 1099-INT

1. Are You Assisting New Spring 2008 Students?

New students continue to arrive to begin their studies for the Spring 2008 semester. If you are assisting a new student, be sure to bring them to the Office of International Student and Scholar Services so that ISSS distribute its new student early arrival information. ISSS business hours are 9:00am to 4:3 0pm Monday - Wednesday and Fridays, and 11:30am to 4:30pm on Thursdays.

Orientation activities begin Thursday, January 24, and orientation packets will be distributed during orientation check-in, Thursday January 24 from 9:00am to 12:30pm in the University Union Tillman Lobby (in front of the Mandela Room in the Old University Union).

A schedule will be posted soon. Once it is available, it may be viewed at the ISSS website: http://isss.binghamton.edu/orientation/spring/orient.htm

New international students are asked to register in advance for orientation, and may do so by going to the following link: http://isss.binghamton.edu/orientation/spring/orient.htm

2. Course Registration for Spring 2008

The University’s BUSI registration system will be turned on for Spring 2008 course registration beginning Friday, January 25, 2008 for new and continuing students. The system will be available from 8:00am to 6:00am (22 hours per day) seven days a week until the evening of the course withdrawal deadline, which is April 4, 2008. Course adds will be accepted until the deadline of Friday, February 8. The system will accept course drops and deletes until the course drop deadline, Friday, February 8. After that date, the system will allow for course withdrawals until the course withdrawal deadline of April 4. Please note that students who drop courses in BUSI during the course withdrawal period will receive a grade of W. For complete information on registration procedures, visit: http://registrar.binghamton.edu/newinfo.html#regdates

Schedule of Classes

The Schedule of Classes for Spring 2008 is available online 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.

Students with outstanding debts to the University, and students who have not complied with University Health Service requirements will be blocked from registering. Students can also view their account balances and pay any outstanding debts through the BUSI Web Center, http://busi.binghamton.edu

Registration Starting Times and Room Assignments

Students are assigned starting times for spring registration according to their total cumulative credits, not including advance registration credits. Students can check their total cumulative credits by going to the BUSI Web Center http://busi.binghamton.edu and clicking on “View Grades and Credits.” Check below for the schedule of starting times.

You can view and print your schedule from BUSI or the BUSI web at any time. Student schedules will not be mailed. Please look online for your classroom assignments.

* Classroom assignments are subject to change. Assignments on the BUSI web are the most accurate and up to date.

Student Level and Earliest Start Times

STUDENT LEVEL	EARLIEST START TIME
Graduate students (Degree & Non-Degree)	Monday, January 21 at 8:00 AM
Degree Undergraduate Students with 88 credits or more	January 25 at 12:00 Noon
Degree Undergraduate Students with 57 - 87 credits	January 25 at 1:00 PM
Degree Undergraduate Students with 24 - 56 credits	January 25 at 2:00 PM
Degree Undergraduate Students with 0 - 23 credits	January 25 at 3:00 PM
Non-Degree Undergraduate Students (New & Returning)	January 25 at 4:00 PM

3. Important SEVIS Registration Information for International Students

Students in F or J status are reminded that in order for them to be in compliance with SEVIS requirements, they must register promptly for the Spring 2008 semester. The last day to add classes for Spring 2008 is February 8, 2008. No later than February 22, 2008, the University is required to notify the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) via SEVIS of any new Binghamton student who entered the United States on a Binghamton I-20 or DS-2019 but has not yet registered. No later than February 26, 2008, the University is required to notify the DHS of any continuing Binghamton student who was registered for Fall 2007 but who has not registered for Spring 2008 (and did not graduate, withdraw, take a leave of absence, or transfer to a new U.S. school).

Special Note for Graduate Students: Graduate students who register for thesis, pre-dissertation research, dissertation, project, or other course rubrics that are eligible to be certified as full-time even though the number of credits will be below the normal full-time course load must submit the Graduate School's "Certification of Full-Time Status for Students Not Receiving Tuition Scholarships" form each semester to their department for filing with the Graduate School. This form may be downloaded at: http://gradschool.binghamton.edu/documents/FTCForm.pdf

4. Income Tax Information: Statement of Interest Earnings From Your Bank, Form 1099-INT

This is part of a weekly series of "Income Tax Information" that appear in ISSS-BU News. To view back issues go to: http://isss.binghamton.edu and click on "ISSS-BU News."

Today's income tax article is about the statement of interest earnings (1099-INT) that you may soon receive from your bank.

If you have a checking or savings account in the United States which earns interest, a certificate of deposit (CD) or other cash investments, you may have already received or will soon receive a form from your bank or investment institution called a "1099-INT" which shows the interest or dividends you earned on your savings or investments for the 2007 calendar year. This information is provided to you for tax purposes, and is also reported to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) by your bank or investment institution. It is important to save these interest statements, because in SOME instances, you may be required to report the interest or dividend income on your income tax forms.

Review the form carefully. Was income tax withheld from your interest earnings? If tax was withheld from your bank interest, and you are in F-1 or J-1 student status and have been continuously in F-1 or J-1 status for five years or less (entered the United States as F-1 or J-1 student in 2003 or later), interest may have been withheld in error. To correct this situation for future years, obtain form W-8BEN, fill it out, and give it to your bank or financial institution that issued the 1099-INT. W-8BEN forms with instructions are available in the ISSS. For more information on the W-8BEN, go to the following link on the ISSS website: http://isss.binghamton.edu/taxes/formw8.html

International students who have been continuously in F-1 or J-1 status for five years or less (entered the U.S as F-1 or J-1 2003 or later) generally file income tax forms as non-residents, and are usually not required to report interest as earnings, although dividend income MUST be reported.

International students who have been continuously in F-1 or J-1 status for MORE than five years (entered the U.S. as F-1 or J-1 2001 or earlier) generally file income tax forms as residents for tax purposes, and are taxed on all world-wide income, INCLUDING interest earnings. However, residents for tax purposes also have greater benefits under the tax laws, such as larger income deductions, deductions for dependents, etc.

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.