Visa Clearance

NOTICE: Visa Clearance is completely online. There will be no "in-person" check-in. To ensure the safety and well-being of students and staff, ISS will be following federal, state, local and university Covid-19 guidelines for social distancing and remote operations during this period.

Visa Clearance, required of all new international students to the UH Manoa System, introduces you to the general rules of your visa status and verifies your immigration documents upon arrival in the U.S. All new incoming students must complete Visa Clearance. Most of Visa Clearance can be completed online (before you even arrive in Hawai'i).

If you do not complete Visa Clearance, your record will have a registration hold from ISS that takes effect on the first day of the semester. This hold prevents you from adding and dropping classes.

1. To start Visa Clearance, you must have a UH account.

A UH username is needed to access the Visa Clearance session. Apply to get a UH username now. You will need your UH ID number provided to you on your admission letter.

Screenshot of UH username application page

2. You must know your visa type and pay your SEVIS Fee.

Determine your visa status for Visa Clearance.

If you received a form I-20 "Certificate of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant Student Status," then you are an F-1 student.

Form I-20 sample

If you received a Form DS-2019 "Certificate of Eligibility for Exchange Visitor Status (J-Nonimmigrant)," then you are a J-1 student.

Form DS-2019 sample

Please make sure you pay your SEVIS Fee to ensure your record is registered in a timely manner.

3. Enter U.S. address, phone number, and email

To complete Visa Clearance, you need provide:

  1. U.S. address where you will be staying. This may be a hotel or other temporary lodging.
  2. U.S. phone number. This can be your hotel/lodging number, dormitory number, personal number, or any other number at which you may be contacted. It must be a U.S. number.

**If you do not yet know this information, you can enter it after your arrival, but before reporting to ISS.

We need this information to "activate" your immigration record. You may update the information when it changes.

Go to MyUH to enter this information. Follow the guide below.

After logging in, go to the "Personal Information" tab and select "View/Update My Address(es) and Phone(s)."

Click on "Current" to change your current address.

Enter your address and phone number in the boxes in the correct format.

When you are finished, click "Submit" at the bottom of the page.

Address Submit Screen

4. Watch the appropriate Visa Clearance Video

5. Submit the appropriate Visa Clearance Form

Complete the Visa Clearance Form for your F-1 or J-1 status and submit the completed form. You will only need to complete the form for your visa type (F-1 or J-1)

The form will include the following items:

  • The F-1/J-1 Student Visa Clearance Quiz - 10 questions which all must be answered correctly to move on
  • Confirmation of your student information including your U.S. Address.
  • Confirmation that you understand your responsibilities as a UH Manoa F-1 Student
  • I-94 Record Retrieval Consent.

Form cannot be submitted until it is completed.

Make sure to have your hawaii.edu account as the primary google account when attempting the following. If any issues occur, log out of all Google and hawaii.edu accounts, then click the link to form and log in from there.

F-1 Visa Clearance Form - Spring 2022

J-1 Visa Clearance Form - Spring 2022  

6. Submit Immigration Documents Online Using UH FileDrop

When you arrive in the U.S., you must report your documents to the International Student Services Office online.

  1. Scan or take high quality digital photos of your immigration documents with your camera, smartphone or tablet:
    For F-1 Students:

    1. Passport biographical page
    2. F-1 Visa (except Canadian citizens)
    3. I-94 with most recent U.S. entry information included
      (Individuals arriving at U.S. air or sea ports will be given electronic I-94s, which may be accessed at http://www.cbp.gov/I94. To obtain the I-94, the person must enter the following information into the web form: name, birth date, passport number, and passport-issuing country.)
    4. I-20 * must be signed by student on page 1

    For J-1 Students:

    1. Passport biographical page
    2. J-1 Visa (except Canadian citizens)
    3. I-94 with most recent U.S. entry information included
      (Individuals arriving at U.S. air or sea ports will be given electronic I-94s, which may be accessed at http://www.cbp.gov/I94. To obtain the I-94, the person must enter the following information into the web form: name, birth date, passport number, and passport-issuing country.)
    4. DS-2019 *must be signed by student on page 1
    5. A completed J-1 Health Insurance Provider Certification Form if you have not submitted it yet. Other documents will not be accepted.
  2. Please name files with the following naming convention:LASTNAME_Item_yyyymmdd.ext(where ext is the file extension: jpg, png, pdf, etc.)Examples:
    SMITH_Passport_20200425.jpg
    DOE_EntryStamp_20200425.png
  3. Submit your document through UH Filedrop to issstaff@hawaii.edu with the maximum number of days available and the optional message: "Immigration documents for [Your Last Name], [Your First Name]"Example: Immigration documents for Doe, James

Please complete the submission of your documents all at once.

You will receive a confirmation email from UH Filedrop confirming that your documents were sent.

Students with a Visa Clearance Hold on their UH account are required to complete this portion in order to have the "Visa Clearance Hold" removed.

7. Wait for Confirmation That You've Completed Visa Clearance

If you did all of the above correctly, you'll have completed Visa Clearance.

After your documents have been verified and your address information updated, ISS will remove its hold on your registration that would take effect at the beginning of the semester. Please check with other offices that may still have holds on your registration.

You should receive an email confirming your Visa Clearance has been completed.