The University of Northern New Jersey Story and Importance of Good F-1 Student Habits

Many of our readers are aware of the University of Northern New Jersey story from early April 2016 where federal agents arrested and charged a number of individuals described as brokers, recruiters and employers with conspiracy to commit visa fraud, among other charges.    The university, which turned out to be a fake institution set-up by federal authorities, was shut down and a multitude of enrolled F-1 foreign students were left without status in the United States.      This article seeks to describe the lessons and the importance for F-1 students seeking to maintain status, especially under the F-1 CPT program.

Background of the University of Northern New Jersey (UNNJ) Closure

The UNNJ story was widely reported over the last couple of weeks (see Google News and New York Times).     Essentially, in April 5, 2016,  federal authorities announced that UNNJ had actually been set-up as part of a sting operation for the two-and-a-half years and was actually run by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).    The announcement included the arrest of 21 individuals who were brokers who recruited foreign students (mainly Chinese and Indian nationals) to the university when they (the recruiters) knew that the university would not have real classes.  According to New York Times, the brokers, working with people posing as university officials, then charged the students in a scheme that allowed them to maintain their student visas and stay in the country, the government said.

UNNJ Students Left Without Valid F-1 Status

As a result of the UNNJ closure, F-1 students who were enrolled and in the U.S. pursuant to F-1 status based on UNNJ documents are left without any status.   According to the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (“SEVP”), all initial and active student records of nonimmigrant students enrolled at UNNJ have been terminated.   Similarly, the records of approximately 60 former UNNJ students who have transferred to other schools are also being terminated.

SEVP will be notifying students of their termination by mail and affected students may have the option of applying for reinstatement of their F-1 status.  Those students who decide not to apply for reinstatement, or whose reinstatement applications are denied, may need to leave the U.S. immediately or seek other options (if available).

Allegations of Improper Use of the F-1 Program

The allegations raised by federal authorities are that brokers, recruiters and employers sought to use UNNJ in order to enroll F-1 foreign students when it was clear that the students would not need to attend classes and/or meet other requirements for valid F-1 status.    UNNJ had issued I-20 documents allowing foreign national students to come (or remain into) to the U.S. and authorized Curriculum Practical Training (CPT) employment to a number of its students.  While CPT is perfectly legitimate form of employment while on F-1 status,  it has a number of requirements, including attending classes.

What Happens to the 1,000+ Students Enrolled in University of Northern New Jersey?

The initial reaction by USCIS and CBP was that these students are in violation of their F-1 status and should be subject to removal proceedings.   Recent communications from USCIS indicate that they may consider the possibility of reinstating their F-1 student status by filing of Form I-539.  Initial indications, as of now, are that USCIS would consider reinstatement of F-1 status applications on a case-by-case basis, as opposed to reinstating F-1 status to the entire UNNJ student population.

Reinstatement of F-1 Status Requirements

Generally, the eligibility requirements for reinstatement of F-1 status are as follows:

• The student must be currently enrolled or intend to enroll for a full-time course load;
• Can establish that the violation of status resulted from circumstances beyond his/her control;
• Has not engaged in unauthorized employment;
• Has not been out of status for more than 5 months;
• Can document sufficient financial resources to pursue a full-time course load;
• Does not have a history of repeated violations; and
• Is not deportable from the US on any other grounds.

In an extraordinary case such as UNNJ, some of its students may run into difficulties meeting all of the eligibility requirements.  Specifically, the requirement of not being out of status for five months is likely to affect many of the students if the government may consider the violation of status to have occurred earlier in the F-1 term or CPT employment.  We believe that this is one of the reasons that USCIS has indicated that they would accept and review F-1 reinstatement application on a case-by-case basis.

Importance of Good F-1 School Practices

The UNNJ case illustrates how important it is for an F-1 student to understand and follow proper F-1 practices.  While it is true that some students at UNNJ may not have been aware of UNNJ’s purposefully not following the proper F-1 requirements, it is plain to see how, according to the government’s allegations, some students were fully aware of the F-1 program irregularities committed by the school but continued nonetheless because UNNJ offered them an opportunity to stay in the U.S. and work under CPT.

This is not the only such example.    The story of Tri Valley University (from 2010-2011) is another very similar example where the university (it was real) simply did not bother to follow properly the F-1 regulations and in that case more than 1,600 foreign students were left without status when the university’s SEVP record was cancelled.

Unfortunately, there are other universities whose F-1 practices, based on anecdotal evidence, may be borderline improper.  A few of the red flags are: the school authorizes full load of online courses (only one per semester is permitted), the school authorized CPT in employment unrelated to the student’s degree, the school issued I-20 knowing that the student would not reside within driving distance of the school’s campus.

In light of this UNNJ investigation, it is possible that other schools may be subject to increased scrutiny and investigation.  We are happy to have a phone consultation to help you evaluate your F-1 status terms and help you understand your options in case you have doubts.

How Our Office Can Help?

If you are a student affected by the UNNJ shutdown, please contact us.  We would be happy to consult with you and analyze your options for filing for reinstatement of F-1 status, among other alternatives, if available.   Alternatively, we urge all F-1 students to keep in mind that it is also their responsibility to maintain F-1 status by following all relevant rules and regulations.    Also, please feel free to subscribe to our free weekly newsletter to obtain developments on this and related topics.