Please read this information as a guide to help you with your studies and to maintain valid immigration status. The information below applies to all international students, at all campuses.
Contents
- Your country’s flag pin for graduation
- Peer mentor applications are open
- IMPORTANT! Phone scam alert!
- ISSS student portal
- Your country’s flag pin for graduation
Congratulations on your upcoming graduation! In connection with the Graduation Celebration, IP-International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS) will be offering a graduation flag pin to all international students expected to graduate this fall and who complete a Program Completion eform in myPassport by Nov. 10, 2022. The flag pin will be from your home country.
Pullman campus students must pick up their pin at Bryan Hall 206 by no later than 4 p.m. on Dec. 9, but ideally before. Students outside of Pullman will have their pins mailed if they provide a mailing address. Questions may be directed to ip.intlservices@wsu.edu.
Thank you and congratulations from all of us in ISSS!
- Peer mentor applications are open
Applications for International Student Peer Mentor positions are now open and will remain open until Nov. 13. Mentors are current students who volunteer to help newly arrived international students transition to their new lives in the U.S. and at WSU. They connect these students with clubs, events, and resources during this transition period. Mentors can be from any country, including the U.S., and they can be graduate or undergraduate students.
Applicants can apply on Handshake.
- IMPORTANT! Phone scam alert!
If someone claiming to be a U.S. government official or law enforcement officer calls and threatens you with deportation or any other negative immigration consequences – hang up immediately! This is a sophisticated scam (fraud)!
USCIS and other government agencies will NEVER contact you over the phone to request payment immediately or to ask for identifying information.
Recently, students in our area began receiving calls from a phone number that looks like a legitimate government number. When you answer, the person on the phone poses as a USCIS, FBI, IRS, or other government official or law enforcement officer. The scammer or scammers will say that there is a problem with your application, or that additional information is required to continue the immigration process. Then, they will often ask for sensitive personal and financial information, demand payment, and threaten you with deportation, arrest, or other negative consequences if you do not comply immediately.
The scammer will then order victims to make a payment – and will often order them to go to a nearby bank or store and withdraw money or purchase a prepaid card, Steam card, Apple gift card, Google Play gift card voucher, or money order or make some other wire transfer, money exchange, payment, or withdrawal. (Note that the scammers are often able to direct victims to nearby banks or stores by using online maps to study the area in which a victim resides.) Again – if you receive a call like that, hang up immediately!
If you receive a suspicious email or voice message and are not sure if it is a scam, please contact ISSS at ip.intlservices@wsu.edu. Also, please visit the USCIS Avoid Scam page at https://www.uscis.gov/avoid-scams
If you have been a victim of one of these please contact our office and report it to the Federal Trade Commission online: https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/#/
- ISSS student portal
The ISSS office has a portal page for our international students. You can find links to our website as well as a permanent Zoom link you can use Monday-Friday, 1-3 p.m. (U.S. Pacific time) to speak with an advisor. We encourage you to take advantage of this great resource.
If you have any questions about the above announcements, please contact International Student and Scholar Services.
- WSU Pullman students contact +1 509-335-4508 or ip.intlservices@wsu.edu
- WSU Everett, Spokane, Tri-Cities, and Vancouver students contact Nitivia Jones at +1 509-335-2422 or nitivia.jones@wsu.edu