February 5, 2020

____________________________________________________________________

in this issue:

1. Orientation With ISS
2. Tax Information- Forms & Sprintax Availability
3. Inviting Family Members to Visit the U.S.
4. Wittke and Jackson Award Nominations Now Being Accepted
5. Featured Events
6. Campus Events
7. OPT & CPT Workshop Schedule
8. Meet Your Police- Information Sessions

____________________________________________________________________

ISS Staff is available to students, without an appointment, on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday during advising hours:

11am to 1pm- through virtual advising available online

1pm to 3pm- through in-person advising in the office

There are no advising hours on Wednesday.

____________________________________________________________________

If you need to speak or meet with an advisor outside of our advising hours, please send an email to international@case.edu to schedule an appointment. Please provide your full-name and a brief description of the nature of your appointment when you contact us.

Orientation With ISS

Did you miss Orientation with ISS? The orientation session reviews the most fundamental rules and regulations as well as resources that ISS provides in order to help you maintain your status and enhance your time at Case Western Reserve University

 Log into Terra Dotta and view the presentation materials here!

Tax Deadline in April:
Forms & Sprintax Available

It's time to file your income taxes for last calendar year. ALL individuals in F and J status must file taxes, including spouses, young children, and even if you haven't earned any income!

Staff members in ISS are not tax professionals; we cannot answer your questions or give you advice. We hope the information and resources provided here will make the process a little easier. If you find that you still have questions, the best thing to do is contact a tax consultant or accountant.

Federal Taxes

Sprintax is a tax-return-preparation software program designed primarily for international students and other educational visa holders. It can help you prepare your U.S. federal income tax return and assist you in preparing Form 1040NR or 1040NR-EZ.

You may access Sprintax and begin preparing your tax return by following these steps:

1. Register and follow the simple instructions
2. Complete the online questionnaire
3. Enter Case Western Reserve University’s unique code. This code will be provided to you soon by email.
4. Sprintax will prepare your tax return

State Taxes

If Sprintax determines that you are required to file state taxes, you will have the opportunity to prepare those state taxes. You are not required to use Sprintax to file state taxes but, remember, it is your responsibility to comply with the law and properly file all taxes.

Preparing to File Your Taxes

It's a good idea to wait to access Sprintax until you have all of your necessary and relevant tax forms. This will ensure that you're providing the most accurate information about your income during the last tax year.

If by now, you haven't received your W-2 from CWRU, contact Payroll at payroll@case.edu. If you were authorized to work for another employer, you should contact their payroll department.

Please keep in mind that the US citizen codes in SIS are what prompt the generation of the 1098-T by CWRU's Financial Services Office. 1098-Ts are generated for US citizens and Permanent Residents automatically. 1098-Ts are not automatically generated for international students; the university is only required to provide 1098-Ts to international students (nonresident aliens) upon their request per guidance from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). For more information regarding the 1098-T, please visit Financial Services website to download the Nonresident Alien 1098-T Request Form.

If you are the recipient of a 1098-T, it's not likely that you're eligible to use Sprintax. Sprintax is intended for nonresident aliens and if you're issued a 1098-T, it's possible that you've been in the US long enough to be considered a resident alien for tax-purposes only (overall, you're still considered a nonresident alien though). That means you're able to file your taxes more similarly to the way a US citizen does and could utilize other tax preparation software.

1042-S forms will be prepared by mid-March and sent to students by Payroll. Please contact Payroll if you have questions about the issuance of your 1042-S.

For more information, visit our Information on Filing Taxes page.

Inviting Family Members to Visit the U.S.

During your time as a student at CWRU, you may want to invite family members to visit you and/or attend commencement ceremonies.

ISS staff are unable to write letters of invitation to your family members for the purpose of a visit or to attend commencement.

Visitors apply for a B-2 visa at a U.S. Consulate or Embassy in their home country. For more information about how to prepare for the application, please visit ISS website and scroll down to the heading titled Inviting Family Members to Visit the U.S..

Wittke and Jackson Award Nominations Now Being Accepted

Nominations are being accepted for the J. Bruce Jackson, MD, Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Mentoring and the Carl F. Wittke Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching through February 15.

Click here for more information about how to nominate outstanding faculty and staff!

Featured Events

Campus Events

'Get Experienced' Career Fair is February 10

Employers will be in attendance looking to hire students for full-time and part-time positions, as well as internship positions over the the summer.

More information: https://students.case.edu/career/events/fairs/

Save the Date