Immigration Support

News & Updates

Immigration Enforcement and the Safety of Students, Faculty and Staff

4/9/2025 Western Michigan University is, and will remain, a globally engaged campus that is enriched by the presence of students, faculty and staff from around the world. Please review the updated policy resources page here for official university statements, guidance and resources.

U.S. government officials this month have taken action to terminate some international students studying at U.S. higher education institutions from a system known as the Student & Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) and/or revoke their visas. If you have been impacted by this, you will receive an email from I3S directly with further guidance.

COVID-19 Recovery Rebate Credit Checks Issued in Error To Nonresidents

1/15/2025 In December 2024, the IRS began issuing payments for unclaimed Recovery Rebate Credit under the American Rescue Plan Act (so called COVID stimulus payments) to individuals that did not file 2021/2022 tax returns. However, many nonresidents have reported receiving these payments unexpectedly, leading to confusion.

If a student has recently received such a payment, it’s likely due to filing a 1040 tax return at some point after 2022. In these cases, the IRS may have issued the payment in error. If any of the students who received the check were a nonresident in 2020 or 2021 and mistakenly received this payment, they are required to return the checks as well as provide and clarify their nonresident status for those years.

The options for returning are as follows:

1. They received the check but have not yet cashed it:

a. Write “Void” on the back of the check.
b. Mail the check to a valid IRS branch location
c. Include in it a note outlining why they are returning the check.

2. They received the payment as a check and cashed it/they received the payment through direct deposit:

a. This will require them to send a personal check, or money order, etc., to their relevant IRS branch location
b. On the check/money order, they’ll have to write “made payable to ‘U.S. Treasury’” and also write ‘2021EIP’, and their taxpayer ID (in this case their social security number, or individual taxpayer identification number/ITIN).

c. Again, give an explanation of the reason for returning the payment.

For more information, visit SPRINTAX BLOG and IRS.GOV.

WMU Winter Closure From 12/23/2024 To 01/01/2025

12/10/2024 - Please be advised that the university is closed for the winter break period December 20, 2024 at 5 p.m. and will reopen on January 2, 2025 at 8 a.m.

EMERGENCY Information:

For police, fire, or medical emergencies, call 911.

If this is an immigration emergency after hours (such as a border or port of entry issue), please contact Kalamazoo County Consolidated Dispatch at (269) 488-8911 (ask to be directed to a WMU Public Safety officer).

To inquire about appointments and services when university reopens, please dial the service desk at (269) 387-5865. Additionally, please see the information and services below.

Below are some helpful resources by topic:

ORIENTATION Information:

If you are a new student and need orientation information, please visit: https://wmich.edu/internationaladmissions/orientation.

Please check out the orientation hub for relevant links, including frequently asked questions regarding: Housing, Academic Advising, Tuition, and Transportation.

Registration for the in-person portion of International Student Orientation on January 3 is open! During this session, you will be welcomed to WMU, sign-up for courses, meet immigration advisors, meet new friends and more! Please register ahead of time. We look forward to seeing you!

If you need additional support, contact us at hige-orientation@wmich.edu.

ADMISSIONS Information:

For admissions information, visit: https://wmich.edu/internationaladmissions.

Important note on submitting admissions documents:

We would like to advise you that all supporting documents for your application for admission must be uploaded in your application portal either at the time of applying or after you have submitted your application. If you have already submitted your application, you must log into your application portal and upload any missing documents. These include your transcripts, test scores, copy of passport, financial statement and affidavit of support/sponsorship letter. Please do not upload documents that you have uploaded previously (as duplicate uploads may increase processing time).

Documents uploaded while applying or after submitting the application will be shown as “received” only after an admissions counselor has completed the evaluation. You will not need to upload/send them again.

Official transcripts. Official transcripts are those sent to us directly by your previous school/university via mail or email. Electronic submission of transcripts directly from your previous institution is acceptable. Hand-carried transcripts will be accepted if in a sealed envelope from the institution, and the name of the institution must be printed on the envelope as well. Uploaded documents and the documents sent by the student cannot be accepted as official.

Please visit our frequently asked questions: https://wmich.edu/internationaladmissions/faq and
https://wmich.edu/internationaladmissions/apply.

IMMIGRATION Information:

For general immigration information and to access all of our immigration forms, please visit our website at: https://wmich.edu/immigration.

HEALTH INSURANCE Information:

For health insurance information please visit: https://wmich.edu/internationaladmissions/resources/insurance.

ADVISING Directory:

To determine which admissions, insurance, and immigration advisors to contact by area of assistance, please visit our directory: https://wmich.edu/internationaladmissions/resources/advising.

EXPRESS ADVISING:

When the university reopens, you can come in for Express Advising on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays from 1:30 to 4 p.m., except holidays. No appointment needed!

Archived

Reinstatement of Pre-pandemic Requirements for Enrollment Starting Summer I 2023

02/01/2023 Please be advised that since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Homeland Security made temporary exceptions to online course mode requirements continuing through the 2022-2023 academic year. Reference: https://www.ice.gov/coronavirus

Homeland Security is not extending these relaxed online exceptions beyond the 2022-2023 Academic Year, therefore students and departments should plan for and anticipate the reinstatement of the pre-pandemic requirements following the end of Spring 2023 semester, as follows:

Academic students:

For international students enrolled in classes for credit or classroom hours, no more than the equivalent of one class or three credits per session, term, semester, trimester, or quarter may be counted toward the full course of study requirement if the class is taken on-line or through distance education.

Courses that are coded as Hybrid in the WMU course catalog which require the student's physical attendance for classes, examination or other purposes integral to completion of the class, are not deemed “online” and will be counted toward status.

CELCIS - English as a Second Language students:

If the student's course of study is in a language study program, then no on-line or distance education classes count toward the full course of study requirement.

For questions, please inquire with International Student and Scholar Services (I3S) by calling (269) 387-5865 or emailing oiss-info@wmich.edu.

New Visa Service Fee Structure

07/11/2018 Effective July 1, 2018, a new fee structure will be implemented for the below referenced services provided by the WMU Haenicke Institute for Global Education Immigration Compliance office. These fees will help provide continuation of service and support.