As a foreign national, you will need to obtain a temporary immigration visa from the United States in order to be allowed entry into the country. The most common type听of visa听for students attending the University of Colorado Boulder is听the F-1 student visa.

In order to acquire either of these visas, it is necessary to have an appointment with a visa official at the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate. You are required to pay the U.S. government SEVIS fee to make this appointment, and to bring your application materials, admission offer, passport and immigration documents issued by the university (described below) to the appointment. It is best to try to receive this visa as soon as possible after your admission.

More detailed instructions on how to apply for your visa will be sent to you upon admission to CU Boulder, along with your admission offer.

Please note: U.S. permanent residents, refugees, asylees and undocumented students听are not considered international students.

The F-1 student visa is used by most students.

If you are admitted, after we鈥檝e received and reviewed your 鈥楶roof of Funding鈥�, your completed 鈥楩inancial Statement / Affidavit of Support鈥�, your 鈥楶roof of English Proficiency鈥�, and a scan of your passport, the CU Boulder Office of Admissions will email you a Form I-20.

Information from the I-20 will allow you to pay the U.S. government SEVIS fee (online) and thus to make a visa appointment at the nearest US Embassy or Consulate. In addition to your application materials, passport and admission offer, you鈥檒l need to bring this I-20 to your visa appointment. Both the F-1 student visa (stamped into your passport if approved) and the I-20 Form are necessary to enter the U.S. 听

If you are an F-1 student already studying in the United States, you must complete the F-1 immigration transfer form and arrange to have your current F-1 immigration record transferred to us before your 'transfer pending鈥� I-20 can be issued. A link to this form is included in your formal admission email.

If you did not indicate a visa type on your application, we will assume you will be an F-1 student. If you indicated a visa type other than F-1 or J-1 on your application, we assume you will be attending CU Boulder on that visa, and we will not be issuing a visa document to you. It is your responsibility to ensure you can attend CU Boulder on your current visa type; if you would like to switch to an F-1 visa please contact us immediately at intladm@colorado.edu.

International students in F-1 status must coordinate with their designated school officials (DSOs) at their current academic institution to initiate the SEVIS immigration transfer process. You must follow the transfer out process required by your current school to transfer your SEVIS record to CU Boulder.

  1. Work with your current school and CU Boulder to determine your transfer release date. You will need to take into consideration any plans to pursue OPT and international travel before beginning your program at CU Boulder. Your SEVIS release date should be no later than the first day of your University of Colorado Boulder orientation.
  2. The SEVIS School ID # for University of Colorado Boulder is: DEN214F00155000
  3. Please be advised and inform your designated school official (DSO) at your current academic institution, that you must be in active F-1 status to transfer your SEVIS record to the University of Colorado Boulder. CU Boulder will not accept the transfer of a SEVIS record that is in completed status or that has been terminated.
  4. When your SEVIS record has been released to the University of Colorado Boulder, CU Boulder will issue your updated 鈥淭ransfer Pending鈥� Form I-20. The updated Form I-20 will be delivered electronically by email, typically within two (2) business days of your F-1 SEVIS release date.
  5. When you arrive on the CU Boulder campus you must check in with International Student and Scholar Services. Visit the ISSS Admitted/New Students website for details.

The SEVIS transfer process takes time to complete. Please do not wait until the last minute to make these arrangements.

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Sometimes those here on other visa types (or who have come as dependents on another person鈥檚 visa) are permitted to study full time at the university. These might include I-2s, L-2s and E-2s, among others. If you have one of these visas already, please indicate such on your admission application.

U.S. Immigration law prohibits any full-time study for students who enter the U.S. on the visa waiver program or on B1/B2 tourist visas. If you visited the US on a B-1 or B-2 visa, but are no longer here, please indicate "F-1" as your visa type on the application. If you鈥檙e here already and unsure of your visa type or immigration status, please indicate 鈥極ther鈥� as your U.S. citizenship on the CU Boulder admission application.