F-1 Program Extension

If you will not complete your program of study by the expiration date noted on your I-20 form, you must apply for a program extension in the thirty (30) day period before the expiration date. Failure to extend your stay could jeopardize your legal status and will certainly result in your having to file an application with the USCIS (former INS) for reinstatement to status (with a $200 fee.)

The procedure for obtaining a program extension is quite simple. Extensions are granted by OISS if you have continually maintained your full-time student status and if the delay in completing the degree has been caused by compelling academic or medical reasons. Such reasons might be a change of major or research project, unexpected research problems or illness. Delays caused by academic probation or suspension are not acceptable reasons for a program extension. Under these circumstances a student will be considered out of status and may have to apply for re-instatement or a change of non-immigrant status

The following documents are required for the program extension application and should be brought to OISS for review by an advisor.

• A completed recommendation form from your academic adviser 
• Students in the Graduate School should not have this form completed, but should follow the directions below.
• Proof of your financial support (award letter, Yale assistantship letter, bank letter, or sponsor letter).

If all the documents are in order OISS will prepare a new I-20 with a new completion date. You should keep this I-20 along with any previously issued I-20’s. If you work on campus your I-9 Employment Eligibility form will need to be updated.

Students in the Graduate School who have not completed the dissertation by the end of the sixth year of study may request a period of extended registration by submitting a one-page petition for extended registration, along with the standard dissertation progress report. The student’s adviser and the director of graduate studies must certify that the student is making good progress on the dissertation, will be working full-time on it during the year and has a reasonable prospect of completing it by the end of the registration period. (Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Programs and Policies, p. 410.) If approved, the student will be given a letter from the Graduate School approving the request for extension and on the basis on that letter OISS will extend the student’s I-20 and F-1 status.