Overview of International Students at CCNY

Welcome to the International Student & Scholar Services (ISSS). The Department of International Student & Scholar Services provides services and advocacy for the international students and scholars who are not permanent residents of the United States. Additionally, it provides pre-semester orientation programs and semester long workshops that assist with adapting to life in the United States while pursuing their education. Professional counseling assistance is available for students with immigration concerns, or academic and personal difficulties.

CUNY International Student Guide

OISSS Update 7/28/2020

We updated our Frequently Asked Questions document reflecting the most recent changes regarding online study for the Fall 2020 semester. 

Please read it carefully and reach out to us if you have any questions at oisss@ccny.cuny.edu.

We hope that you are all staying safe during this crisis. ​

OISSS Update 7/14/2020

Dear International Students, 

Over the last nine days, we have all been shocked then frustrated with a new rule passed by ICE and SEVP regarding online learning in the Fall 2020 semester. ​While we were working to find a solution, we were provided with great news. 

The rule that was passed last week has been rescinded by the U.S. President. This means that should CCNY choose to remain a remote learning campus throughout the Fall 2020 semester our International Student population would remain in status. 

Please see the links below for more information:
https://www.nafsa.org/regulatory-information/sevp-covid-19-guidance-sources

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdnzMsdrlnM&feature=youtu.be

We have read all of your emails and have shared in your frustration so we are happy to be able to share this news. Please continue to contact your academic advisors for course enrollment for this Fall. 

OISSS Update 7/12/2020

Message from the CUNY Chancellor

Dear CUNY Community,

I know the last four months have been challenging, unsettling and heartbreaking in so many ways. I wish I could know what the future will bring, and say with clarity what the upcoming months will look like. I can’t, but regardless of what the Fall looks like, CUNY will be ready for our students in August.

Last night the CUNY Board of Trustees approved a resolution that gives us the most flexibility in making decisions and planning what the Fall semester will look like once New York City enters Phase 4, which signals the start of the reopening for CUNY.

We are preparing for a range of scenarios that combine in-person, virtual and hybrid instructional modalities. Thanks to the diligent work of so many in our system, 48 percent of the Fall 2020 courses that are open for student registration are already scheduled for hybrid or online delivery. We hope to increase this percentage in the weeks ahead in preparation for the start of the semester. I want to acknowledge and thank everyone across our university who has committed endless hours to getting the work done during these extraordinary times.

We are also getting ready to deliver a range of in-person courses and services, provided they meet New York State and University guidelines for re-opening and assuming that New York City enters Phase 4 over the next few weeks, as is the plan.

Those courses are likely to include, among others, those dependent on science labs and professional equipment, theater, performing and studio arts and clinical placements. We seek to physically reopen to the extent possible on-campus student services such as food pantries, child care and counseling centers, computer labs and library services.

We are also devising plans to help our international students in response to the misguided policy announced by Washington earlier this week. The resolution approved by the Board last night also helps us in this matter by providing maximum latitude to offer them some degree of in-person instruction. We will leave no stone unturned to make sure our international students are able to stay and continue their studies at CUNY.

All these future decisions will be guided, first and foremost, by our obligation to protect the health and safety of all students, faculty and staff, along with our commitment to facilitate the maintenance of academic momentum for students. At the same time, we are extending a degree of flexibility to each college to develop plans tailored to the needs of its campus community.

Each CUNY campus has formed a Reopening Committee to develop personalized plans, following guidelines from CUNY Central that are consistent with Governor Cuomo’s Phase 4 blueprint for higher education institutions and subject to final approval from the Office of the Chief Operating Officer.

We have seen other universities announce they will return with in-person instruction for the Fall term only to backtrack and reverse course because of a surge in coronavirus cases, contributing to an already disruptive and confusing climate. We want to avoid these kinds of interruptions.

As we have moved through the early stages of this unprecedented crisis and worked to sustain the day-to-day operations of the nation’s largest urban university system, our community has experienced plenty of heartache. To honor our talented and cherished faculty, staff and students, as well as retirees and alumni who lost their lives to the coronavirus, we have created an “In Memoriam” page on CUNY’s website. We invite you to leave sympathy messages to celebrate and commemorate their lives and contributions.

When it is safe to do so, we will further commemorate their lives with an in-person memorial event. I look forward to that day, as well as to the beginning of the Fall semester — in less than seven weeks — and a point in the future when we will all be able to meet and reflect on the challenges we have overcome and the goals we have accomplished together during this period of adjustment.

I will be in touch with additional details in the near future. In the meantime, please continue to visit cuny.edu/coronavirus. As always, be safe, be well and please be sure to take care of one another.

Sincerely,

Félix V. Matos Rodríguez
Chancellor

OISSS Update 6/23/2020

OISSS Update 6/10/2020

We have updated our Frequently Asked Questions document reflecting the most recent changes regarding COVID-19.

Please read it carefully and reach out to us if you have any questions at oisss@ccny.cuny.edu .

See "Update 7/28/2020" for most the most recent version. 

OISSS Update 6/5/2020

Dear International Students and Scholars,

We hope you are all well and safe! We are closely monitoring President Trump's Proclamation on the Suspension of Entry as Nonimmigrants of Certain Students and Researchers from the People’s Republic of China. The proclamation is effective from June 1, 2020 and it remains in effect until the President terminates it.

According to the Secretary of State, Mr. Pompeo “The President’s proclamation suspends the entry into the United States of any People’s Republic of China national seeking to enter the United States pursuant to an F or J visa to study or conduct research in the United States, except for a student seeking to pursue undergraduate study, where the individual’s academic or research activities are likely to support a PRC entity that implements and supports the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) “military-civil fusion” strategy.”  

We would like to share a YouTube video by Arda Beskardes, an Attorney-at-Law, who discusses the latest immigration situation. 

For the details regarding the proclamation, please see links below:

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/proclamation-suspension-entry-nonimmigrants-certain-students-researchers-peoples-republic-china/

https://www.nafsa.org/regulatory-information/proclamation-suspending-entry-chinese-students-and-researchers-connected-prc

https://thepienews.com/news/china-students-us-military-links/?mc_cid=ed694f7c3f&mc_eid=ea8e90bd13​

We will keep sharing updates with you as we receive them.

Stay safe!

OISSS Update 5/19/2020

OISSS Update 4/1/2020

The Department of International Student & Scholar Services continues to operate remotely.  For your convenience we have set up a Virtual Front Desk. Copy the link below, or call the phone number provided, to visit our Virtual Meeting Room and we will be there to answer your questions. 

OISSS UPDATE 3/24/2020

For information on the Coronavirus, click on the links below:

https://www.cuny.edu/coronavirus/

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories.html/