International Applicants

After an international applicant planning to study in F-1 or J-1 immigration status has been admitted and pays the enrollment confirmation deposit, they will receive an invitation to MyISSS to access the UW I-20 or DS-2019 request form.

Per U.S. immigration law, the admitted student must demonstrate sufficient financial resources for the first year of study.

• See the estimated total expenses below for the amount to demonstrate on the UW I-20 request form (this includes tuition, living expenses, and other campus fees).
• Please note that the I-20 documentation will contain the estimated University of Washington’s average cost of graduate tuition rates, so that the average tuition used for these calculations may not accurately reflect the true tuition rate of your specific program. Refer to the Office of Planning and Budgeting (OPB) for current tuition and fee rate information. You can also contact your program directly if you have questions about your tuition.
• Students who will attend in J-1 exchange visitor status must also demonstrate financial resources, but have additional requirements. Please contact the Graduate School at uwgrad@uw.edu if you have questions about eligibility.

The UW provides an estimate of annual expenses for UW international students and their dependents, as well as additional financial information on the Annual Tuition & Fees webpage.

• your own personal funds
• funds from a family sponsor
• funds from a government or agency sponsor awarding a scholarship
• funds from a UW department awarding a fellowship, grant, or graduate assistantship (RA/TA/GSA)

• letter from a bank or a bank statement (issued within the last six months) to include the name of the account holder, name of the bank and the amount of readily available funds (converted into U.S. dollars)
• letter from a U.S. employer to include name of employer, name of employee, length of employment and employee’s annual salary
• letter from a government or agency sponsor to include your name, name of government or agency, terms and amount of scholarship
• letter from a UW department to include your name, name of UW department, terms and amount of fellowship, grant, or assistantship (RA/TA/GSA)

Tuition rates are maintained by the Office of Planning and Budgeting and may vary based on your residency status, tuition tier, the total number of credit hours for which you are registered, etc. Rates may also differ depending on which campus you attend, due to slight variations in Services & Activities fees.

The Office of Planning and Budgeting website makes current tuition and fee rates available. If you cannot locate the tuition rate for your specific program, contact the program in which you plan to enroll.

For questions regarding tuition and fee distribution, please visit the Office of Planning and Budgeting (OPB) website for contact information.

Important notes: F-1 and J-1 student visa documentation will contain the estimated University of Washington’s average cost of graduate tuition rates. Please be aware that the average tuition used for these calculations may not accurately reflect the true tuition rate of your specific program. Refer to the web site above to obtain the accurate tuition rate for your program, or ask your program.

Students who are required to enroll in UW Academic English Program (AEP) will pay additional fees for AEP courses.

• UW graduate programs send offers of admission via email. If you have received an offer, we hope you will accept and join our Husky Community!
• If you have not yet created your UW NetID, you will need to create it before you can accept the offer. In your graduate school application, you will have a PAC code, student ID number, and a link to Identity.UW. You will select “UW student” on the Identity.UW site.
• After you have your UW NetID, to accept the offer and confirm enrollment (reserving your seat in the program), please return to your graduate school application and select the “Accept Offer” button.
• For assistance with accepting the offer, please review Enrollment Confirmation System Help.
• If you need additional information about the Enrollment Confirmation Deposit, please visit the UW Registrar’s Enrollment Confirmation System.
• After you have, you will have access to your graduate application’s Pre-Registration Page.

• After you have accepted your offer, you will have access to your graduate application’s Pre-Registration Page.
• The “Submit Final Degree Transcript” section will list one or more of the colleges or universities you attended. Your admitting graduate program has requested that you send the listed degree[s] to the Graduate School for degree verification.
• Visit Official Transcripts Requirements for more instructions.

If you will be studying in F-1 student status during your graduate program, you must request and be issued a Form I-20, “Certificate of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant Student Status.”

• After you have accepted your offer, you will have access to your graduate application’s Pre-Registration Page. You will see an “I-20 or DS-2019 Request” section that explains: “You will receive an invitation to the UW’s MyISSS portal…. Follow the online instructions to complete the I-20 or DS-2019 request process.”
• The MyISSS invitation will be sent from uwgrad@uw.edu to your UW e-mail address within three UW business days.
• If you do not see the I-20 or DS-2019 Request section on your Pre-Registration page, please contact the Graduate School so your student record can be corrected to F-1 student.
• Refer to the ISS Money Matters page for detailed financial instructions. We recommend you prepare your financial documents early, so you are able to request your I-20 as soon as possible.
• Processing time: after you submit your completed I-20 request in MyISSS, expect 2-4 weeks processing time before the I-20 is issued to you.

A small number of UW graduate students attend in J-1 exchange visitor status. If you have been invited by a program sponsor* to participate in an educational and cultural exchange as a UW graduate student, you are eligible to receive a Form DS-2019 “Certificate of Eligibility for Exchange Visitor (J-1) Status” to apply for your J-1 visa.

• After you have accepted your offer, you will have access to your graduate application’s Pre-Registration Page. You will see an “I-20 or DS-2019 Request” section that explains: “You will receive an invitation to the UW’s MyISSS portal…. Follow the online instructions to complete the I-20 or DS-2019 request process.”
• The MyISSS invitation will be sent from uwgrad@uw.edu to your UW e-mail address within three UW business days.
• If you do not see the I-20 or DS-2019 Request section on your Pre-Registration page, please contact the Graduate School so your student record can be corrected to J-1 student.
• You will have additional funding requirements beyond the I-20 (F-1 visa) Financial Ability Requirement because you are required to receive the majority of your funding from your sponsor, rather than personal or family funding. You must also demonstrate funding for the entire duration of the program.
• *”Program sponsor” does not typically include students who are sponsored by their admitting UW department as an Academic Student Employee (Research Assistant or Teaching Assistant). Academic Student employees attend the UW on F-1 student visas.
• Processing time: after you submit your completed DS-2019 request in MyISSS, expect 2-4 weeks processing time before the DS-2019 is issued to you.

• After the Graduate School has approved and issued your UW I-20, you will be notified to return to your MyISSS portal to receive the electronically signed I-20.
• Electronic signature & delivery of I-20s is allowed by the US government and an original ink signature from the UW is not required.
• If you have not yet received your I-20, but would like to prepare for a visa interview and next steps in advance, you are welcome to preview the University of Washington I-20 Instructions.

Before making any travel arrangements such as purchasing plane tickets, plan your arrival date into the United States carefully. You will need to consider the following: the start of class for your entry quarter; arrival window per visa requirements; and mandatory orientations.

• Confirm Academic Entry Quarter: The UW has four academic quarters in a calendar year. When you accepted your offer from your UW department, you agreed to begin studies in either Autumn, Winter, Spring, or Summer Quarter. You can also confirm your entry quarter by checking the “Enrollment Confirmation Received” email receipt sent by the University of Washington Office of the Registrar. If your entry quarter is incorrect, or if you need to request that your application’s entry quarter be moved into a different quarter, contact your graduate program immediately before taking any additional steps.
• Confirm Academic Class Start Date: Once you have confirmed your academic entry quarter, you can then review the UW Registrar’s Academic Calendar for each quarter’s Dates of Instruction. For example, if your entry quarter is Autumn 2023, the first day of classes is September 27, 2023.
• Arrival Window: Each Academic Quarter, new initial F-1 (I-20) or J-1 (DS-2019) students have a very specific window of time in which to enter the United States on their student visas.
  • Earliest arrival date: You may not enter the U.S. earlier than 30 days before the “Program Start Date” on your I-20 form (on the DS-2019 form, see the start date in #3). This will be the same date as the “Start of Classes” (the first day of classes for your quarter).
  • Latest arrival date: Plan to arrive in the US no later than the “Program Start Date” as listed on your I-20 form.
  • Mandatory ISS Check-in: The U.S. government requires both F-1 and J-1 new students to officially “check in” after they have arrived in the U.S.; you must complete the International Student Services’ online Post-Arrival check-in no later than the first day of your classes.
• Remember to Plan Ahead! You are advised to have your F-1 or J-1 visa (“entry”) stamp in your passport before purchasing non-refundable plane tickets (US Embassies & Consulates visa processing times may be slow, especially during the busy summer months). Refer to International Student Services Visas for an overview of the visa interview process.
  • Pre-Arrival ISS Checklist: You are also encouraged to complete the ISS Online Information session as soon as you have confirmed your enrollment. You will learn valuable information related to your F-1 or J-1 visa. You are also required to complete this session before you can register for your classes.
• Mandatory Orientations: You are required by the UW to attend a welcome program hosted by CIRCLE. Many graduate programs also have mandatory orientations. Please check with your program advisor to ask if you need to attend an orientation or other programming before the first day of classes.

This I-20 category is only for students already in the U.S. who will transfer their SEVIS immigration record to the UW Graduate School, Seattle Campus from UW Tacoma, UW Bothell, UW International & English Language Programs, or another U.S. school. There are benefits to a “SEVIS transfer,” so you are strongly encouraged to transfer if you are eligible.

• Review UW Seattle Campus I-20 Request (F-1)section for instructions about the MyISSS portal.
• Questions about transferring your SEVIS record? You may find these frequently asked questions useful.
• Pre-Arrival ISS Checklist: You are also encouraged to complete the ISS Online Information session as soon as you have confirmed your enrollment. You will learn valuable information related to your F-1 or J-1 visa. You are also required to complete this session before you can register for your classes.
• Mandatory ISS Check-in: The UW expects you to officially “check in” by completing the International Student Services’ online Post-Arrival check-in no later than the first day of your classes.

This I-20 category is only for students currently holding F-1 status at the University of Washington Seattle Campus (including those on OPT) who are admitted to a new graduate program at UW Seattle. If you are continuing your studies at UW, congratulations, and we are glad you are staying with us!

• Confirm Eligibility: Review the International Student Services Office’s Change of Level Eligibility information carefully.
• Prepare your new financial ability documents (personal or family bank statement, departmental offer letter, sponsor letter) per Financial Ability Requirement.
• Current UW students should already have access to the MyISSS platform. Log in and go to your Requests & Documents section. Then select the Change of Level/Program icon to submit your Change of Level Request.
• ISS and the Graduate School will review and process your request.

If you selected “no” to the question Are you a native English speaker? in your graduate school application, you will be asked to demonstrate English language proficiency for graduate study at the University of Washington, per Policy 3.2 requirements.

If you have received a Teaching Assistant (TA) Offer, you have additional requirements per Policy 5.2. Please contact your graduate program with questions related to your appointment.

The Graduate School recommends you confirm that your UW student record has been updated correctly with your level of English proficiency before you register for your first quarter. Your confirmation will ensure that you are either marked “satisfied” for completing the English Language Proficiency requirement, or that you are placed into the correct Academic English Proficiency (AEP) class if your score is below the “recommended score.”