Visa Information

As a visiting international student, please use the following information to determine your immigration status. After determining your immigration status, please refer to the How to Register page for step-by-step instructions on how to enroll in Summer Term courses at Boston University.

F-1 Student Status

To qualify for student immigration sponsorship, you must study full time. Full-time enrollment is defined as registration for a minimum of 8 credits in one summer session or 12 credits over both sessions.

• If you do not currently have an F-1 student visa, you can apply for one. In order to apply for an F-1 visa to the US, you must first obtain an I-20 immigration document from Boston University. Please refer to Section A on the How to Register page for information on obtaining an I-20 from Boston University.
• If you are enrolled at another US college/university program in F-1 status in Spring 2024 and will continue studying at that same school in Fall 2024, you may be able to study at Boston University under your current F-1 student immigration status. Please refer to Section B on the How to Register page for information on how to enroll. Students in this situation are eligible to study full time or part time.
• If you are a current F-1 student with an active I-20 that will expire or you are enrolled in an academic program that will end before enrolling in Summer Term, you must obtain an I-20 from Boston University for summer study. Please refer to Section A on the How to Register page for information on obtaining an I-20 from Boston University.
• If you are currently enrolled in an English language, non-degree, or other short-term program, you will likely need to enroll full time to qualify for F-1 student immigration sponsorship and should obtain an I-20 from Boston University. Please refer to Section A on the How to Register page for information on obtaining an I-20 from Boston University.

B-1/B-2 Visitor Visas and WT/WB Status

Visitor immigration status does not permit full-time enrollment. If you are in the US in visitor status, you may be eligible to take a maximum of one course during each summer session. Please refer to Section C on the How to Register page for more information on how to enroll in Summer Term under visitor status.

It is recommended that all students study full time and do so under F-1 student status (see section above).

Other Visa Statuses (for example, J-1, J-2, H-1B, H-4)

If you are currently in the US in a different nonimmigrant category, you may be eligible to take courses at Boston University Summer Term, depending on your immigration status. Please refer to Section D on the How to Register page for information on how to enroll.