If you cannot arrive in the U.S. for the academic term start date listed on your I-20 or DS-2019, you will need to defer your immigration document to a future academic term. Below are the steps to defer your immigration document with the Office for International Students and Scholars (OISS).
Admission deferral
There is a distinction between an admission deferral and an immigration deferral.
Admission deferral:
- Processed by your admitting department
- Necessary if you will not enroll at WashU in the academic term of your admission
Immigration deferral:
- Processed by OISS
- Necessary if you will not enter the U.S. by the program start date listed on your I-20 or DS-2019
Prior to requesting an I-20 or DS-2019 deferral, you must defer your admission with your admitting department. They will advise you on the term to which you can defer your admission. Please follow up with your admitting department directly for further instruction regarding your admission deferral.
Apply for an I-20 or DS-2019 deferral
Step 1:
Defer your admission directly with your admitting department
- Determine which academic term you will be eligible to begin your program.
Step 2:
Submit the I-20 Deferral or DS-2019 Deferral request in MyOISS
You will need to enter the following information:
- The semester and year to which you are deferring your admission
- The reason you are deferring
Your admitting department must approve your request to defer your I-20 or DS-2019. The approval confirms that your admission has been deferred to the semester/year indicated in this request. Refer to the chart in the MyOISS request for the appropriate approver information based on your admitting department.
Please do not submit a request until you have made a final decision. Once your immigration document has been deferred, it cannot be undone.
Step 3:
Access your new immigration document
When OISS issues your I-20 or DS-2019, we will share it with you via the MyOISS platform. You will receive an email notification including login instructions and details on how to retrieve your I-20 or DS-2019. Find details about next steps in your MyOISS account.
OISS processing times are 3 business days from the day you submit your I-20 or DS-2019 Deferral request. Processing may be delayed if your admitting department does not approve your request.
I-901 SEVIS fee
The U.S. government charges the I-901 SEVIS fee to activate your SEVIS ID. The fee applies to only one SEVIS ID, but it can be transferred to new SEVIS ID if requested within one year of payment.
Note: If you already paid the SEVIS fee and do not request a transfer within one year of the original payment, you will need to pay the I-901 SEVIS fee again. The SEVIS fee payment expires if you are not issued a F-1 or J-1 visa within one year of payment.
- If you will defer your admission for up to one year, your I-20 or DS-2019 will be deferred and the SEVIS ID will not change.
- If you have not already paid the SEVIS fee, you can do so at FMJfee.com.
- If you have already paid the SEVIS fee, it will still apply to your deferred I-20 or DS-2019 as it will bear the same SEVIS ID. It is not necessary to transfer the fee. The SEVIS fee payment will expire if you are not issued a F-1 or J-1 visa within one year of payment.
- If you will defer your admission for more than one year, your I-20 or DS-2019 will be cancelled and you will need to reapply for a new one 4-6 months before you plan to arrive in the U.S. for your academic program. You will receive a new SEVIS ID after you apply for a new I-20 or DS-2019.
- If you have not already paid the SEVIS fee, do not make the payment until after your new I-20 or DS-2019 and SEVIS ID have been issued. You can pay online at FMJfee.com.
If you have already paid the SEVIS fee for the SEVIS ID on your current I-20 or DS-2019, you must request a SEVIS fee transfer by following these steps:
- Request a new I-20 or DS-2019 from your admitting department 4-6 months before you plan to arrive in the U.S. for your academic program
- Receive your new I-20 or DS-2019 and new SEVIS ID
- Request SEVIS fee transfer via website OR email
- To transfer via the website, visit FMJfee.com
- Check the I-901 payment status of your paid SEVIS ID
- Select the transfer button
- Enter your new SEVIS ID, school/program code and personal information
- Await email confirming transfer of payment
- To transfer via email, contact FMJfee.sevis@ice.dhs.gov
- Provide your name, date of birth, paid SEVIS ID, and new SEVIS ID
- Explain why you need the fee transferred
- Include a copy of the payment receipt for your paid SEVIS ID
- Await email confirming transfer of payment
Visa application
An F-1 or J-1 visa is valid from the issue date through the expiration date, regardless of the school name or SEVIS ID indicated in the annotation. Use your valid visa to enter the U.S. together with a valid I-20 or DS-2019.
You can apply for a F-1 or J-1 visa up to 365 days before the start date listed on your I-20 or DS-2019. You may already have a visa appointment scheduled at the time of your I-20 or DS-2019 deferral request. If so, there could be impacts on your appointment depending on when you plan to be present in the U.S.
- If you will defer your admission for up to one year, your I-20 or DS-2019 will be deferred to your requested academic term.
- Your SEVIS record will remain in “Initial” status and the SEVIS ID will not change.
- When you receive your deferred I-20 or DS-2019, you can schedule your visa appointment up to 365 days before the start date.
- If you will defer your admission for more than one year, your I-20 or DS-2019 will be cancelled.
- Your SEVIS record will be in “cancelled” status. This means you will not longer be eligible to apply for a visa using your current document.
- You will need to apply for a new I-20 or DS-2019 about 4-6 months before you plan to arrive in the U.S. for your academic program. The new immigration document will include a new SEVIS ID and start date.
- When you receive your new I-20 or DS-2019, you can schedule your visa appointment up to 365 days before the start date.
Additional considerations when deferring
It is important to understand how deferring your immigration document may impact your SEVIS record and the visa process. Review the sections below to understand how you may be affected.
- If you have transferred your SEVIS record to WashU, you must begin your academic program within 5 months of the transfer release date (F-1 students) or as soon as possible after the transfer release date (J-1 students).
- If you defer your admission after WashU has processed your SEVIS transfer, OISS must terminate your I-20 or DS-2019 and you must apply for a new one prior to beginning your academic program.
An immigration document can only be deferred for up to one year at a time (i.e., from one academic term to the next or from one academic year to the next). If you wish to defer your I-20 or DS-2019 for more than one year, OISS must cancel your immigration document and you must apply for a new I-20 or DS-2019 prior to beginning your academic program.
In some cases, you must also apply for re-admission if you plan to begin your program too long after your initial admission to WashU. Contact your admitting department directly to understand your options.
Your eligibility to enter the U.S. in F-1 or J-1 student status is based on the start date listed on your I-20 or DS-2019. You can enter the U.S. up to 30 days before this start date.
If your I-20 or DS-2019 is deferred, your start date will change—and so will your travel timeline.
No matter how long you defer your admission, you can only enter the U.S. within 30 days of the new start date on your updated I-20 or DS-2019.
If your funding source changes significantly from the time of issuance of your original I-20 or DS-2019, you may request to have your immigration document updated. In this case, you may be subject to the increased tuition and living expenses. If so, you are required to submit all new updated financial documents.