How to Get and Use Form I-20: Status, Work, and Travel Rules

Form I-20, the Certificate of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant Student Status, is the document a U.S. school issues to admitted international students so they can apply for an F-1 or M-1 visa, pay the SEVIS fee, enter the country, and prove lawful student status while they study. You do not fill it out yourself. A Designated School Official (DSO) at a school certified by the Student and Exchange Visitor Program creates it in SEVIS after you show you can pay for your program, and the same form travels with you through every later step: the visa interview, the border, international trips, work authorization, and any change to your studies.

How To Get Your I-20

The process starts once an SEVP-certified school admits you. Your DSO, usually someone in the international student office, will ask for financial documentation showing you can cover the first academic year’s cost estimate that will appear on the form itself: tuition, fees, living expenses, and health insurance. Federal regulation requires “documentary evidence of financial support in the amount indicated on the Form I-20.”¹

Acceptable evidence varies by school but generally includes bank statements, scholarship award letters, sponsor affidavits, loan approval letters, or government funding documentation. After the DSO verifies your admission and finances, they create the I-20 in SEVIS and send it to you. Many schools now transmit an electronically signed I-20 through email or a secure portal, though some still mail a physically signed copy.²

What Is on the Form and Why It Matters

Check every field against your passport the day it arrives. Errors in your name, date of birth, or citizenship can derail a visa interview or a border inspection. The main sections are:

SEVIS ID number. Printed at the top in the format N followed by ten digits. This is your unique identifier in the federal tracking system and shows up on nearly every immigration form you touch afterward.³
School information. Name, address, SEVP school code, and the issuing DSO.
Program of study. Degree level and major, plus the program start and end dates that define your authorized period of stay.
Financial section. The estimated cost breakdown alongside the funding sources you documented.
School and student attestations. The DSO’s signature certifying the school has vetted you, and your signature acknowledging the rules of your status. A parent signs for students under 18.⁴
Travel endorsement section. A separate signature space the DSO uses before you travel internationally.
Employment authorization. Where the DSO endorses Curricular Practical Training, listing employer, location, and dates.

Any change to your major, degree level, program dates, or funding source triggers an updated I-20. Keep every version, even superseded ones, because Customs and Border Protection or USCIS may ask to see your document history.

What To Do After You Receive It

Before scheduling a visa interview, pay the I-901 SEVIS fee. For F-1 and M-1 students the fee is $350, paid online at FMJfee.com by credit card or by mail with a check or money order.⁵ Print the receipt. You will need it at the consulate and at the port of entry.⁶

Schedule the nonimmigrant visa interview at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate and bring the original signed I-20, your passport, your admission letter, financial documents, and the SEVIS fee receipt. Interviews are usually short. Visa issuance times after the interview run from a few days to several weeks depending on the post.

You may enter the United States no more than 30 days before the program start date on the I-20.⁷ Keep the I-20 in your carry-on. Never pack it in checked luggage.⁸ At the border, the CBP officer verifies your SEVIS record and issues an electronic I-94 arrival record, typically marked “D/S” (duration of status), meaning you are authorized to stay as long as you maintain valid student status.⁹

Staying in Status While You Study

Your I-20 only works if you follow the rules attached to it. F-1 undergraduates must enroll in at least 12 credit hours per term. Graduate students carry whatever the school certifies as a full course load. M-1 vocational students at community or junior colleges also need at least 12 credit hours.¹⁰ Dropping below full-time without prior DSO authorization puts you out of status immediately. A DSO can authorize a reduced load in limited circumstances (academic difficulty, a documented medical condition, or the final term), but the approval has to come first, not after.¹¹

If you will not finish by the program end date, ask your DSO for an extension before that date passes. SEVIS allows extensions of up to one year at a time for reasons such as academic delays, medical issues, or a DSO error in the original end date, and you will need updated financial documents.¹² Letting the end date lapse is one of the most common ways students fall out of status.

Working on an I-20

F-1 students can work on campus up to 20 hours per week during the term and full-time during official vacations, with DSO approval and no separate USCIS application.¹³ An on-campus job also lets you apply for a Social Security Number using your I-20, passport, I-94, and a departmental employment letter.

Curricular Practical Training allows off-campus work that is an integral part of the curriculum, such as internships, co-ops, or required practicums. You must complete one full academic year of study first, unless a graduate program requires immediate participation. The DSO authorizes CPT by endorsing your I-20 with the employer, location, and dates, and you cannot begin work until you have that endorsed I-20 in hand.¹⁴ Twelve months or more of full-time CPT eliminates eligibility for Optional Practical Training afterward.¹⁵

Optional Practical Training provides up to 12 months of work authorization per degree level in a field related to your major. OPT requires a separate application to USCIS on Form I-765, and you must receive the Employment Authorization Document (EAD) before starting. STEM degree holders can apply for a 24-month extension, with a maximum of two STEM extensions in a lifetime.¹⁵ Unlike CPT, OPT does not require a job offer to apply, and you can change employers as long as the work stays in your field.

M-1 vocational students face stricter rules. Practical training is the only work authorization available to them, only after the program ends, and only for up to six months. You file Form I-765 with USCIS and wait for the EAD before starting. If the “admit until” date on your I-94 does not cover the training period, you also file Form I-539 to extend your stay.¹⁶

Traveling Outside the U.S.

To re-enter the United States after a trip abroad, your I-20 needs a current travel endorsement signature from your DSO on page 2. That signature is valid for one year under normal circumstances, and for six months if you are on post-completion OPT. Get a fresh signature before you leave rather than trying to arrange one from abroad, since the DSO has to verify your SEVIS status.

Carry these to the port of entry:

I-20 with a current travel endorsement signature
Valid passport (at least six months into the future)
Valid visa stamp (Canadian and Bermudian citizens are generally exempt)
I-901 SEVIS fee receipt
Financial documentation
Proof of enrollment, such as a transcript or class schedule
EAD card, if you are on post-completion OPT

If your visa expired while you were in the U.S. but is still in an old passport, you can use it for re-entry as long as you carry both the old and new passports.

Transferring Schools

Changing schools does not end your student status, but it does require coordination between the two DSOs. Bring the new school’s acceptance letter, SEVP code, and DSO contact to your current DSO, and together choose a transfer release date, the point when responsibility for your SEVIS record shifts. After that date, the new DSO issues a fresh I-20.¹⁷

Register for classes and report to the new DSO within 15 days of the program start date on the new I-20. If you are already in the U.S. and want to transfer before classes begin at your original school, notify that school’s DSO, show proof of acceptance at the new school, and enroll full-time at the new school within 30 days of arrival in the country.¹⁷ If you transfer after paying the SEVIS fee, you generally do not pay again; email FMJfee.sevis@ice.dhs.gov at least two weeks before your visa interview to link the fee to the new record.⁶

Dependents on F-2 or M-2 Status

Your spouse and unmarried children under 21 each need their own Form I-20 to enter in F-2 or M-2 status. The DSO issues these after confirming you are or will be enrolled full-time or in approved practical training. A dependent joining you later must show that you are already enrolled or will be within 30 days. If a dependent is already in the U.S. on a different visa and wants to change to F-2 or M-2, they file Form I-539 while their current status is still valid.¹⁸

After Your Program Ends

F-1 students get 60 days after the program end date, or after OPT employment ends, to depart the country, transfer to a new school, or change to a different visa status. M-1 students get 30 days after the program ends or the EAD expires, whichever applies. You cannot work during the grace period. If you leave the country before it ends, the remaining time is gone; you cannot re-enter on it. Students who fail to maintain status or do not complete their program may not receive the full grace period at all.¹⁹

1
eCFR. 8 CFR 214.2 – Nonimmigrant Classes
2
Study in the States. New Policy Guidance for the Use of Electronic Signatures and Transmission of the Form I-20
3
Office for International Students and Scholars. Your SEVIS ID Number
4
Study in the States. Students and the Form I-20
5
Immigration and Customs Enforcement. I-901 SEVIS Fee
6
Study in the States. Paying the I-901 SEVIS Fee
7
Study in the States. Maintaining Status
8
Study in the States. Government Voices: Presenting the Form I-20 at a U.S. Port of Entry
9
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. I-94/I-95 Website
10
Study in the States. Full Course of Study
11
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Chapter 3 – Courses and Enrollment, Full Course of Study
12
Study in the States. Extending the F-1 Form I-20
13
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Chapter 6 – Employment
14
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Chapter 5 – Practical Training
15
eCFR. 8 CFR Part 214 – Nonimmigrant Classes
16
Study in the States. M-1 Practical Training
17
Study in the States. Instructions for Transferring to Another School as an F-1 Student
18
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Chapter 9 – Dependents
19
Study in the States. Students: Understand Your Post-Completion Grace Period