OUR SERVICES

International Student Services moved to the Pyle Center this summer! Visit us at 702 Langdon Street, Suite 130!

 

How to access virtual advising services:

NOTE: All ISS staff will be working on immigration document requests.  Staff are doing their best to timely and accurately process all requests. Some requests may be over 15 business days. Questions about the status of your request seriously delays our processing time. If your request is “Submitted – Under Review by Assigned Advisor”, it is being reviewed!

Thank you for contacting ISS! We are happy to serve over 7,000 international (F and J visa) students on campus and over 1,000 working on post-completion employment authorization throughout the U.S.

To best serve our students, please choose only one method of communication with ISS. Please do not send multiple Terra Dotta information requests or call multiple staff members with the same question or request. This will prevent delays and confusion when we respond to your inquiry.

Monday – Friday: 8:30 a.m.–4 p.m.

All immigration requests can be submitted online through Terra Dotta. Your assigned ISS advisor can be contacted through Terra Dotta information requests.

When you come in to the International Services office for an in-person meeting with one of our staff members, please check in with our staff at the front desk.

Let our front desk staff know:

  1. Your name
  2. Who you are meeting with
  3. What time your appointment is

Please then wait in the lobby while the staff notifies the relevant staff member that you have arrived. Then the staff member you are meeting will meet you in the lobby.

Hybrid (Virtual or In-person) drop-in advising hours:

  • Mondays & Tuesdays: 2–4 p.m. 

  • Fridays:  10 a.m.–12 p.m. 

In-person advising hours are the same as virtual drop-in advising hours, and students who come to the office will complete the same intake form as students attending virtual drop-in advising on Zoom. The sign-in sheet is in the Zoom session or in-person at the front desk. Coming to the office in-person will not result in meeting with an advisor sooner. Even if you do not see a long line of students in the office, there may be many students ahead of you who signed up virtually.

We will try our best to meet with all students who attend drop-in hours. Drop-in advising is available on a first-come, first-served basis. If there is a “long line” of students ahead of you, you may need to wait for some time. 

During our sessions you can check where you are in the list of students we meet for each session in the link below.

Check your place in the queue

Monday & Tuesday Drop-in Advising: 2 p.m.–4 p.m. (CDT)

Click here to join the Monday & Tuesday session

Meeting ID: 563 448 9795

Passcode: UWBadger

Friday Drop-in Advising: 10 a.m.–12 p.m. (CDT)

Click here to join the Friday session

Meeting ID: 563 448 9795

Passcode: UWBadger

Tips for Participating in Drop-In Advising:

  • Students must log-in using their NetID Zoom account and are able to join by phone or computer. For directions on how to sign-in to your UW–Madison Zoom account please see these directions: https://kb.wisc.edu/zoom/105271#signin
  • While in the waiting room, you must complete the Google Advising form before you will be allowed to join a breakout room to meet with an advisor.
    • In the Google form you can use the short answer section to make a note if you wish to speak with a specific advisor. Please be aware that by requesting to speak with a specific advisor your wait time will be longer.
  • If advisors are already talking with other students, you may need to wait. There could also be other students waiting “in line” for advising. We will do our best to keep these sessions short (5-10 minutes). Please help us out with this by scheduling an appointment in Terra Dotta if you have lots of questions or a complicated situation that may need more time.
  • The first hour of drop-in advising is usually the busiest.
  • A good internet connection is important for Zoom to work well. Disabling your video sharing can help some, and is not usually necessary. Keep in mind that you may use UWNet or eduroam while on campus. There are some computer labs and study spaces in the Unions open for students. Please use headphones with a microphone to avoid disturbing others.
  • If you are having trouble connecting to Zoom, you may always quit the application and rejoin. Our team tracks technical issues and will try to make sure you do not lose your place in line.
  • While Zoom allows for videoconferencing, you are not required to use a camera to show video of yourself. You do need the following attached to your computer or mobile device:
    • A microphone
    • Speakers
    • Your Zoom name matches your legal or preferred name in Terra Dotta

Advising appointments will be scheduled at the discretion of your ISS Advisor.

All International Student Services (ISS) advising services will be virtual-only until further notice. Our front desk will be open for document pick-up only. We value the safety and wellness of our community and the only way we can safely provide services at this time is through virtual modalities.

How to access virtual advising services:

Please select the link here for more information on Hybrid advising. 

If you believe you need to schedule an appointment with your ISS advisor, please send them an information request on Terra Dotta. Your advisor will review your information request, and if needed, will send you more information to meet at a scheduled time. 

Phone:

Our phone line is monitored by our student peer advising staff. No immigration advising is provided. Our peer advisors can provide you with the resources to find what you are looking for and answer questions about how to navigate your Terra Dotta portal.

We strive to provide phone service Monday – Friday from 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. CT.

ISS Phone: (608)-262-2044

Email:

Students should send a Terra Dotta Information Request to their assigned ISS advisor instead of sending an email! Do not send your email or Information Request to multiple ISS advisors, please! This takes a lot of staff time away from advising and I-20/DS-2019 requests.

Before you email, please check our website for your answers. You can find answers to your common questions by using the search bar!

Include in your email to iss@iss.wisc.edu:

  • full legal name
  • NetID
  • Student ID number
  • A detailed question about your immigration status and information about your situation

Student Organizations/Campus/Community Partners requesting event promotion, please contact email: issprograms@iss.wisc.edu

You can contact your advisor through Terra Dotta information requests. Information requests are a replacement to email so that all communication and immigration information is in one place.

Advisors and student peer advisors monitor Information Requests every weekday and typically respond in 3-5 business days. Complex cases require additional time to research before a response is sent. We work as a team to answer your information requests, even if your assigned advisor is out of the office.

We request that you not send a message to check the status of your request. Once you submit a request in Terra Dotta, you can check the status yourself. Sending messages to check in will cause delays.

  • It should say “Submitted – Under Review by Assigned Advisor” if an advisor is still working on it.
  • It will say “Request Approved” or SEVIS-Processed” if the request is completed.

Any request or application you submit to ISS may take up to 15 business days to process. ISS business days are Monday–Friday, except for holidays and office closures. We are not able to accommodate requests to expedite your application, but ISS is aware of upcoming deadlines for the university and for students. Your request will be processed in the order that it is received and assigned to an available advisor.

Applications must be complete for ISS to review and process requests. If you submit an incomplete application to ISS, we will be unable to process your application. In this case, we will return your application to you to edit and you will be asked to resubmit a completed application. Your application will take up to 15 business days to process after it has been resubmitted to ISS and assigned to an available advisor.

If you have an application processing with ISS continue to monitor your Wiscmail account (or personal email if you are on post-completion OPT or Academic Training) for status updates. We will always email you when there is an update on your application.