Need To Jump Straight To The Course?
Use the links below to jump straight to the Immigration Course.
The International Student Service (ISS) Immigration Course is a multi-step process required for international students who are starting their F-1 student or J-1 student program and have received their Certificate of Eligibility (I-20 for F-1, DS-2019 for J-1) from the University of Hawaii at Mānoa.
The process provides the following:
- Introduces students to the general rules of your visa status
- Verifies student's immigration documents upon arrival in the U.S.
- Ensures student's U.S. address information is formatted properly.
ISS Immigration Course is required in order for our office to register your SEVIS record which allows you to stay in the U.S. for your academic program. These steps are done through the ISS Office's course on Laulima, the University of Hawai'i's online classroom system.
You are required to complete the Immigration Course if you meet the following criteria:
- You are starting an F-1 or J-1 program on your current SEVIS Record with the University of Hawaii at Mānoa for the first time. This includes but is not limited to Students who:
- Are transferring from another school in the U.S. or another University of Hawaii Campus
- Previously attending UH Mānoa but are on a different SEVIS Record.
- Are from Canada who do not require a visa in their passport but are still here on an F-1 or J-1 program.
- You received your Certificate of Eligibility (an I-20 for F-1 students, a DS-2019 for J-1 students) from The University of Hawaii at Mānoa.
Students who received their I-20 or DS-2019 from University of Hawaii at Mānoa Outreach College or East-West Center should contact their respective office to see what processes they require for your arrival.
J-1 Student Interns for the University of Hawaii at Mānoa, please check your email for information on the J-1 Student Intern Check-in process.
For students who wish to have assistance with the ISS Mānoa Immigration Course Process, the ISS Mānoa Office offers Optional Pre-Arrival Immigration Course Virtual Sessions designed to help go over the process and the documents required with a member of our office. It is NOT REQUIRED but is recommended for students who look through the Immigration Course process and feel they need assistance with the process.
Below are the scheduled dates for the Spring 2025 Pre-Arrival Immigration Course Virtual Sessions held via Zoom*
- Tuesday. December 3rd - 9am HST (GA Priority)
- Thursday, December 5th - 1pm HST (GA Priority)
- Wednesday, December 11th - 1pm HST
- Friday, December 13th - 9am HST
- Tuesday, December 17th - 1pm HST
- Thursday, December 19th - 9am HST
*Zoom session links will be provided the day before the scheduled session date. Please check your UH email address for the Zoom information. The sessions will not be recorded and will not be available other than the specified dates and times.
The current time as provided by timeanddate.com:
Convert this schedule to your time zone: https://time.is/compare
For questions about the Pre-Arrival Sessions, please email issmanoa @ hawaii . edu.Please make sure your UH Account (@hawaii.edu) is your primary Google Account to access the form.
The ISS Immigration Course can be broken down into 4 steps:
Steps 1 and 2 may be completed from outside of the U.S.
- Step 1: Reviewing F-1/J-1 Regulations
- Step 2: Understanding & I-94 Consent Form
Steps 3 and 4 must be completed after you enter the U.S.
- Step 3: Submitting your F-1/J-1 Documents
- Step 4: Updating Your Address
Students should have access to the class as their admissions are completed. If you are a new F-1 or J-1 student and cannot access the F-1 or J-1 course respectively, please contact issmanoa@hawaii.edu for assistance.
Go To The UH Mānoa F-1 Immigration Course
Go To The UH Mānoa J-1 Immigration Course
All must be completed and approved by the ISS Office. Failure to complete the Immigration Course will prevent the ISS Office from being able to register your SEVIS record.
If you run into any of these messages it is possible that you are logged into multiple Google Accounts and that is confusing the MyUH system:
“Permission Needed”, ”Authorization Required”, ”Session Timeout”, or “Error”
To resolve the issue, try the following:
- Make sure that you do not have an existing Incognito, InPrivate, or Private window open in your browser of choice.
- Open a new Incognito, InPrivate, or Private window.
- Go to the MyUH Service page for Address/Phone Updates and click Go in the Incognito/InPrivate/Private browsing window.
- Log in with your UH Username and Password at the UH Login Screen.
You should now be directed to the correct page.
If the above does not work you may need to log out of all your Google Accounts. Then only log in to your UH account and try again.
What can I do after completing the Immigration Course?
As we get closer to the semester we'll be releasing information about our ISS Welcome Events for new students.
Check the page provided for more information on available sessions for new students to learn about items related to their time here as well as meet other new international students.