A student who has failed to maintain status may be reinstated to lawful F-1 status at the discretion of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), but only under limited conditions.

Effective January 1, 2003 the regulations:

• limit the time that a student can be out of status (no more than 5 months)
• tighten the eligibility criteria, and
• require the Designated School Official (DSO) to recommend
  reinstatement

CONDITIONS FOR APPROVAL OF REINSTATEMENT
The USCIS District Director may consider reinstating a student to F-1 status if the student can prove the following:
1. The student has not been out of status for more than 5 months prior to filing for reinstatement (unless he or she can show that there were exceptional circumstances that prevented the student from filing during the 5-month period).
2. The student does not have a record of repeated violations.
3. The student is pursuing, or will in the next available term be pursuing a full course of study.
4. The student has not engaged in unauthorized employment.
5. The student is not deportable on any grounds other than the status violation for which reinstatement is being requested.
6. The status violation resulted from either:

• circumstances beyond the student's control; or
• failure to apply in timely fashion for a reduced course load authorization from the DSO only if the violation relates to something that would have been within the DSO's authority to have approved, if it had been requested in a timely manner and for which that the student would experience extreme hardship if the application were not approved.

Below is checklist of documents that a student must present to the International Student Office to be recommended for reinstatement

CHECKLIST FOR REINSTATEMENT
to download a copy click on one of the links below or read on:
Microsoft Word
Adobe PDF

1. Original I-20 for Reinstatement
2. Photocopies of all I-20s that you have
3. Original I-94 card
4. Financial Documentations
5. I-539 completed (click on link to print)
6. Letter from student explaining reason that he/she is out of status
7. Photocopies of Passport pages with
Expiration date
Passport number
Visa stamp
Picture
8. Proof of registration for current semester
9. Check or Money Order for $300
10. Proof of SEVIS fee payment ($100) pay online at http://www.ice.gov/graphics/sevis/i901/index.htm or at your local Western Union.

Mail complete application for reinstatement to the following address:

Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services
75 Lower Welden Street
Vermont Service Center
Saint Albans Vermont 05479

SEND APPLICATION BY CERTIFIED RETURN RECEIPT. ALSO SUBMIT PHOTOCOPY OF THE RESULTS TO OUR OFFICE FOR YOUR FILE.