F1 Visa Holder Regulation

Federal regulations state that students may apply only 3 fully-online semester credit hours (SCH) to the hours required for full-time status for F1 Visa holders. Full-time status for F1 Visa students is 12 hours for undergraduates and 9 hours for graduate students. Instructors teaching online courses should insert information into the syllabus to make F1 Visa students aware of this limitation and provide them with information about options to complete an on-campus experiential component in a course that is otherwise fully-online.

If a F-1 Visa holder intends to take more than 3 SCH of online courses in a term, they will need to document the on-campus experiential component of all courses that exceed the 3-hour limit. This on-campus experiential component can be satisfied in a number of ways including a face-to-face test, lab work, a required on-site lecture, mandatory library orientation, etc. Instructors should develop an option to assist students who request an on-campus experiential component to meet the federal regulation. Instructors should have students requesting this assistance to complete the On-campus Component Reporting Form for Online Courses which requires both the student and the instructor’s signature. The instructor should make a copy for the student’s departmental file and send a copy to the UNT International Student and Scholar Services (routing address on the form).