February 25, 2022
Admitted International Graduate Students to Request I-20 and DS-2019 in MyISSS
We are pleased to announce that GEMS in partnership with undergraduate admissions and the international student services offices for all three campuses is using a new system to manage immigration records and requests: International Student & Scholar Services (MyISSS).
GEMS is working closely with students who submitted their request prior to February 16. Beginning February 16, graduate students who have paid the Enrollment Confirmation Deposit (ECD) will receive an email invitation to the UW’s MyISSS portal within three UW business days. Students will use the link from the email to login with their UW NetID and password. Once logged in, students will follow the online instructions to complete the I-20 or DS-2019 request process and upload copies of the biographical page of their passport and proof of funding for studies in the U.S. We have updated the Graduate Application Pre-Registration Page in MyGrad and Admitted International Graduate Students page with these instructions.
Departments offering financial support should ensure offer letters state the total dollar amount of the financial award for the first year of study. The students will use these departmental offer letters in their visa interviews at U.S. consulates or embassies, and they will also upload a copy of the department offer letter into their MyISSS when they request the I-20 or DS-2019.
Example A:
A student is awarded a Teaching Assistantship and will start Autumn Quarter. The student receives a complete tuition waiver ($35,064 estimated annual value) and a monthly salary ($3,000 x 9 months). The department provides an offer letter that includes the statement: “The total value of this financial support is $62,064 per academic year (nine months).”
The student doesn’t need to provide any personal or family bank statement when they request the UW I-20 in MyISSS, because the UW funding is greater than the $59,112 financial ability requirement.
Example B:
An MBA student is awarded a Non-Residential Differential (NRD) award for one quarter, and a $10,000 merit scholarship to begin studies in Summer Quarter 2022. Instead of paying $17,484 for Non-Resident quarterly tuition, the student can pay the Washington resident rate of $11,870. Therefore the department estimates the value of the one quarter NRD award as $5,614. The department provides an offer letter that states: “The total value of this financial support is $15,614 for the 2022-2023 calendar year.”
The student’s total requirement for their first 12 months of study is $78,816. So they need to demonstrate the remaining $63,202 with personal or family funding.
Ask an Advisor Session:
GEMS is excited about how MyISSS will streamline the I-20 and DS-2019 request process and improve the graduate student experience. We will be dedicating time to this topic at our next Ask an Advisor session on Wednesday, March 2nd at 9:00 a.m. Kim Lovaas, Director of International Student Services (ISS) on the Seattle campus will be joining us.