Welcome to Harvard to any incoming international students, scholars, student interns, and their families!
As a reminder, once you arrive in the U.S. you must register your arrival with the HIO. The HIO is processing all registrations via electronic form. Please do not come to the HIO offices for registration at this time. You may find instructions based on your visa category below:
After registration is complete, individuals on F-1 and J-1 visas and their dependents with visas sponsored by Harvard can obtain a travel signature on their F-1 Form I-20 or J-1 DS-2019 Form in order to travel internationally during their program.
You may request a travel signature to be sent via email by completing the Travel Signature Request Form. If you have dependents, you do not need to submit a separate request for their document's signatures; all forms I-20 and DS-2019 will be issued and sent to you automatically.
Alternatively, you may come to the HIO during our walk in travel signature and document pick up hour, which takes place Monday-Friday from 12pm - 2pm on the 8th floor of the Smith Center to obtain a travel signature.
If you are an incoming student or scholar who is applying for a visa at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate, please make sure to update any visa appointment booking, visa appointment cancellations, and visa approvals with the HIO using our online reporting form. You may submit this form multiple times to update previously-reported information. We will use your reporting anonymously to help your fellow students at the University as they navigate the visa application process.
As a reminder, U.S. Embassies and Consulates worldwide are working through backlogs from the pandemic, and may be operating at reduced capacity, making obtaining an appointment more difficult. You may view the current operating status of a given U.S. Embassy or Consulate on the U.S. State Department website.
Newly arriving students and scholars can find arrival information, including the documents needed to show to Customs upon first arrival to the U.S., here.
Continuing students and scholars may find a full list of documents needed to travel to the U.S. from a trip abroad here.
As a reminder, students graduating in May 2022 need to submit work authorization applications to remain in the U.S. and work in their field of study after graduation. Post-graduation work authorization needs to be approved before graduating students may begin any positions in the U.S., including on campus work at Harvard, after graduation.
F-1 students will need to apply for Optional Practical Training (OPT). Details can be found here. A job offer is not required for OPT applications. OPT applications must be submitted before students depart the U.S. after graduation, or before the end of the 60 day grace period post-graduation.
J-1 students will need to apply for Academic Training (AT). Details can be found here. A U.S. job offer is required to apply for AT. AT applications must be submitted to the HIO before the end of your 30 day grace period post-graduation.
As of Thursday, April 7, Social Security Administration offices nationwide will reopen for walk in services. International students, scholars, and student interns in need of applying for a Social Security Number (SSN) no longer need to schedule an appointment in advance to visit a Social Security office. Once you have all of the SSN application documents printed, you may visit a Social Security office without an appointment during their walk in hours. Please note, there may be long wait times for walk ins when the offices first open.
Join us for Harvard's first Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging Forum which will bring the Harvard community together from April 12th through April 14th in an online virtual platform to learn and engage with critical EDIB topics. This year's theme, Reimagine Our Community, is driven by the need to collaboratively explore how we might work together to build a campus environment where everyone can thrive. All Harvard affiliates are invited to attend and participate.
How does culture influence the ways you communicate and interact with others? Learn more about your own style of communication and about different communication styles around the globe. Practice intercultural communication strategies to build connections with others. Join us for a “Navigating Intercultural Communication” Workshop!
On Wednesday, March 16 from 12 – 1:30 p.m. the HIO will host a workshop on intercultural communication for international postdocs led by Sarah Emory, Assistant Director for International Teachers and Scholars at the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning at Harvard University. You will have the opportunity to engage and connect with other international postdocs across the university around the important topic of intercultural communication.
The workshop will take place via Zoom; please register here. Upon registering you will receive an email with the Zoom meeting link and password.
If you are an F-1 student completing your degree in May 2022, now is the time for you to start the F-1 Post-Completion OPT application process.
Applying for OPT is a two step process. First, you must submit an OPT request to the HIO in order to obtain an OPT recommendation I-20. The HIO will start accepting OPT applications as of Monday, February 7, 2022. The HIO will begin emailing OPT I-20s to students as of Monday, February 28, 2022, along with instructions for the second step of the process: filing your OPT application with USCIS.
You are not required to have a job offer to apply for OPT and you are encouraged to apply for OPT as early as possible. OPT applications may take 3-5 months to process by USCIS. Please note that you are still permitted to travel in and out of the U.S. while your OPT application is pending with USCIS until the completion date listed on your I-20.
To apply for OPT, please review this information and take the following steps:
You must be physically present in the U.S. in F-1 student status at the time of application;
If you were present in the United States (U.S.) during any part of calendar year 2021 in any immigration status other than B or WT/WB (ESTA), there is at least one tax form (IRS Form 8843) you must file with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) this spring. Below is what you should consider in preparation for the coming tax filing season. If you were not in the U.S. at all during 2021, you do not need to complete any tax forms at this year.
Review the HIO Tax FAQ and Tax Filing Overview for background on the U.S. tax system and tax filing deadline dates for 2021.
The HIO licenses a software called Sprintax, which will assist all tax nonresidents with their federal and state tax filing. Current students, scholars, and student interns may log in to use Sprintax using their Harvard key. The cost for federal U.S. filings are covered by the Harvard license. State filings for all 50 U.S. states can be done using Sprintax for an additional fee, listed here.
All current students, scholars, and student interns at Harvard will receive an email from the HIO in mid-late February providing additional information and instructions to access the Sprintax tax preparation software.
If you are no longer an active student or scholar at Harvard and need to file taxes for 2021, please contact the HIO via email (internationaloffice@harvard.edu) in late February to request a unique access code to use Sprintax.
This season, Sprintax will be hosting a series of free open tax webinars to provide helpful information around nonresident tax filing obligations. You can find the details and registration links on the HIO's Tax Filing Overview page.
If you are planning on traveling internationally over the upcoming school breaks, please check to ensure that you have all required immigration documents necessary to re-enter the U.S. with.
If you need a travel signature on your Form I-20 or DS-2019, please review the applicable instructions below. Please note, the HIO will be closed for Thanksgiving break Wednesday, November 23 through Friday, November 25.
J-1 students, scholars, and student interns and their dependents will need to visit the HIO during our walk in travel signature and document pick up hour, which takes place Monday-Friday from 12pm - 1pm on the 8th floor of the Smith Center to obtain a travel signature.
Beginning November 2nd, the HIO will be hosting travel signature hours in the Longwood area for students, student interns, and scholars to obtain a travel signature or to pick up documents from the HIO. An HIO Advisor will be available every other Wednesday, beginning November 2nd, from 1:00pm - 3:00pm in Gordon 006 (at the HMS/HSDM Office for Postdoctoral Fellows - see map). The full schedule may be found here.
For more information on contacting the HIO, please see Contact Us.
