Returning to Emory University after a leave of absence as an international student in F-1 status:

Thank you for letting us know of your intentions to return to Emory in the future. Please note that while your I-20s in your possession are no longer valid, you should keep them for your records.

To return to Emory, you should start the following process at least 5 months before you plan to arrive in the U.S.:

1. You must first be re-admitted to Emory University through the office for Undergraduate Education. Please ask Jackie Wallace, jwallac@emory.edu at the office for Undergraduate Education to send us a letter confirming your readmission.
2. In addition to a copy of your readmission letter, please ask the office for Undergraduate Education to indicate (via email or hard copy) your new expected graduation date. This should be based on how many more semesters (not including the summer) you will need to complete your undergraduate degree requirements if enrolled for at least 12 semester hours each semester except for your last. ISSP will need this new expected graduation date so that we will know what dates of validity to put on the new I-20 we will issue you.
3. You would need to fill out an updated financial certificate and mail it along with a new letter from your financial sponsor's bank verifying that s/he has sufficient funds to cover your educational expenses. Your sponsor will need to sign a section of the attached financial certificate confirming their agreement to sponsor you. The financial certificate is updated each year. Therefore, email issp@emory.edu as well in order to be sent the current form. Please mail the financial documents via express mail to the following address:

International Student and Scholar Programs
Emory University
1784 North Decatur Road, Suite 130
Atlanta, GA 30322, USA

Once the letter of re-admission, the information concerning the number of semesters needed to graduate, and the financial information is received by ISSP, we can issue your I-20 and will send it to you via FEDEX mailing.  We will e-mail you the FEDEX tracking number, once we have shipped the document.

Since you will be absent from the U.S. for more than 5 months and since you are going to be issued a new initial attendance SEVIS I-20, you will need to pay a new SEVIS fee of $200.  Please go to this link http://www.ice.gov/sevis/i901/index.htm, pay the fee online, and print out the receipt. Please bring a copy of the receipt with you when you apply for a new F-1 visa and travel to the U.S.

Please be sure to report to the ISSP office as soon as you arrive in the U.S. so that we can get copies of your immigration documents and report your presence to the U.S. government.

Thank you, and we look forward to your return!

International Student and Scholar Programs (ISSP)
1784 North Decatur Road
Emory University
Atlanta, GA  30322
Phone:  404-727-3300
Fax:       404-727-0830
www.emory.edu/ISSP