Welcome back to campus! We want to remind new and returning international students and scholars that they should always contact the HIO directly for any immigration-related questions or concerns during your time at Harvard.

For travel signatures or quick immigration questions, you can stop by the HIO during our regular office hours, 9:00 am to 3:00 pm on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday; 11:00 am to 5:00 pm on Tuesday, to speak with an Advisor On Call (AOC).

You can also contact your HIO Advisor directly for information, or to book an appointment to meet.

Several advisors also hold office hours in various locations around the University, including the Longwood Medical area, HBS, and HLS. For a schedule of on-site office hours, please click here.

With the beginning of the new school year upon us, Mayor of Boston Martin Walsh has issued a letter welcoming international students who have chosen Boston to be their new home in the United States. You may read his welcome letter here.

F-1 students who applied for OPT are facing unprecedented delays in receiving their EADs (employment authorization documents). These delays not only affect our recent graduates and HU hiring departments, but those across the U.S. Without EADs, students have no income and are not permitted to begin working until they get their EADs. They cannot travel outside the U.S. and reenter the U.S. without the EAD. In previous years, OPT applications have taken 60-100 days to be processed by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), but the processing time this year is much longer than previous years.  Recent estimates are that OPT processing could take as long as 5.5 months. These delays are part of a bigger problem within USCIS. The General Accountability Office (GAO) will undertake a study in the fall at the urging of Congress to investigate USCIS processing times which have increased by up to 46 percent since Fiscal Year 2016.  We are working with various offices across the University and professional organizations to advocate for our students.  Please feel free to contact your HIO advisor if you have any questions.