Conditional Admissions

This applies to students that are fully admitted for bachelor level study and admission to master level is pending the completion of prerequisite courses. Upon successful completion of the undergraduate prerequisite courses, a new Form I-20 will be issued. Once the student has completed the prerequisite courses, and received a passing grade, the student will fill out the "Change of Level I-20 Request" via iStart.

Hello, and welcome to UIS! Once you’ve settled in, please take some to review our website, as it has several resources that you will find helpful during your time here—like information about travel while on F1, information about employment, and much more. For your online orientation, please review the following information in detail.

Need to know

Review all of these sites for the mandatory orientation.

Current Immigration Concerns

USCIS Pauses Processing of Immigration Benefits for Individuals from Travel Ban Countries

2025 IEW is November 17th to 21st

Colleges and universities all across the US celebrate International Education Week! IEW is a joint initiative of the US Department of State and the US Department of Education “to promote programs that prepare Americans for a global environment and attract future leaders from abroad to study, learn, and exchange experiences.”

iStart is the new online portal to most resources you will need through the Office of International Student Services.  You can access your iStart account at iStart.uis.edu.  ISS began using iStart in June of 2018 and we are continuing to add functions and e-forms to the software for our F-1 international students to use. 

Prepare for Travel

Once your F-1 Visa has been approved, you should arrange your travel in order to arrive on campus prior to the program start date. You may arrive in the United States up to 30 days prior to the program start date listed on your form I-20. Make sure that you have already confirmed your attendance with our office and made housing arrangements prior to your arrival.

Culture shock is the sense of confusion, uncertainty, and possible anxiety that people experience when moving to or experiencing a new culture.  An important thing to remember is that it is normal to experience such feelings, no matter who you are or where you are from.  Culture shock affects different people in different ways and for varying amounts of time.  One of the ways to combat culture shock is to learn about what it is so that one can recognize it, as well as to have strategies to minimize its effect.