Graduate Orientation

International Graduate Student Orientation Schedule

Fall 2023 ISO Orientation Sessions (after September 5, 2023): New Students for Fall 2023 who did not already attend one of the ISO New Graduate International Student Immigration Orientation Sessions offered during August and the first week of September, but still need to have their ISO Orientation (OC) Hold removed for registration, will now need to watch a recording of the ISO Orientation Session.
The recording of the session, and a copy of the slidedeck, is available on the ISO Student Content Access webpage (https://iso.mit.edu/student-content-access/).
Kerberos login and Duo authentication is required.

For new students who need their OC Hold removed, after you have watched the full session online, please email your ISO Advisor or ISO-Help@mit.edu and indicate include the following in the body of the email to request your OC Hold to be removed:
“I have watched in full the ISO New International Graduate Student Orientation Session and understand that I am responsible for the content.”
An ISO Advisor will save a copy of your email to your iMIT record and remove your OC Hold and confirm this via an email response to you. After you receive the email confirmation, it will take approximately 1 hour for the hold removal to appear on your MIT registration page.

U.S immigration regulations require ALL New/Incoming Graduate International Students to go through an immigration orientation course/session and to submit required immigration documentation/information before beginning their program at MIT. Therefore, there are a few steps that all New/Incoming Graduate International Students are required to complete in order for the International Students Office (ISO) to activate their U.S. Immigration status in the U.S. and with MIT.

ATTENTION: This is NOT an automatic process, so students must be proactive. Students will not be able to complete their enrollment/registration for the term until they have completed the below requirements.

Who Is Considered A “New/Incoming Graduate International Student”?

  • New/Incoming students to the U.S., in F or J status.
  • ‘Return from Leave of Absence’ (RLOA) students, in F or J status.
  • Transfer-In students (i.e., “Transfer Students” are defined as students who transferred their current SEVIS record (F or J) to MIT from another U.S. institution/school).

Required Steps To Activate A U.S. Immigration Status

All New/Incoming Graduate International Students are required to attend the ISO Immigration Orientation Session provided and New/Incoming Graduate International Students are also required to complete the Online Check-In requirements, in iMIT.

STEP 1: Attend A Virtual ISO Immigration Orientation Session

Orientation sessions for New/Incoming Graduate International Students will be held virtually in August through “Registration Day”. All New/Incoming International Students are required to attend an ISO Immigration Orientation Session. Student are required to register for a session in advance.

  • An ISO Immigration Orientation Session will always start promptly at the start-time listed and students are required to be on-time and stay for the entire duration of the session – this is a federal requirement – and attendance will be taken for the session.

IMPORTANT NOTE:  If an MIT graduate program has scheduled a program-specific ISO Immigration Orientation Session, then a student does NOT need to register/attend one of the general sessions offered below. MIT programs that have separate sessions include: Sloan Master of Business Analytics (MBAn), Sloan Supply Chain Management (resident and blended), Sloan Executive MBA (eMBA), and Sloan Visiting Fellows (SVF). Additional MIT Programs for Undergraduate and Graduate students are the Special Student Program, Exchange Student Program, MIT Visiting Student Program.

ISO Immigration Orientation Session Sign-Up Instructions:

  1. Students must login to their iMIT portal account, under “Full Client Services for Students”.
  2. Students will enter their MIT Kerberos/email information to login.
  3. Once a student has logged in, their “iMIT Services Home Page” will appear.
  4. In the “iMIT Services Home Page”, the student will see a section titled “Events” on the right side of the page. They can then scroll to view available scheduled events and select the appropriate ISO Immigration Orientation Session for their correct immigration status and/or program.
    • Students will be able to select from (for example):
      • ‘(F-1 & J-1) Fall 2023 Immigration Orientation – New/Incoming Students (including New & Transfer-In)’ for students in either F-1 status with a Form I-20 or J-1 status with a Form DS-2019.
      • ‘(F-1 ONLY) Fall 2023 Immigration Orientation – New/Incoming Students (including New, & Transfer-In)’ for students in F-1 status with a Form I-20.
      • ‘(J-1 ONLY) Fall 2023 Immigration Orientation – New/Incoming Students (including New & Transfer-In)’ for students in J-1 status with a Form DS-2019.
  5. Once the student selects the appropriate ISO Immigration Orientation Session they must click “I’m Going” to register for the session. DO NOT register for more than one session and DO NOT forget to save the Zoom link after registering.

ISO Immigration Orientation Session Dates For Fall 2023 :

Orientation ProgramDateStart Time**End Time**
For F & J StudentsWednesday, August 2, 20237:00 PM9:00 PM
For F & J StudentsThursday, August 10, 20237:00 PM9:00 PM
For F & J StudentsTuesday, August 15, 202310:30 AM12:30 PM
ONLY for F StudentsThursday, August 17, 20232:00 PM4:00 PM
For F & J StudentsWednesday, August 23, 20232:00 PM4:00 PM
For F & J StudentsFriday, August 25, 202310:30 AM12:30 PM
For F & J StudentsTuesday, August 29, 202310:30 AM12:30 PM
ONLY for J Visa StudentsThursday, August 31, 20232:00 PM4:00 PM
For F & J StudentsFriday, September 1, 202310:30 AM12:30 PM
For F & J StudentsTuesday, September 5, 202310:30 AM12:30 PM
**Please note that all times are listed in Eastern U.S. Standard Time (EST)

STEP 2: Complete The Required Immigration Online Check-In Process

ATTENTION: The Online Check-In requirements can only be completed once the student has entered into the U.S.

Students can find specific instructions on how to complete the immigration check-in requirements on the ISO Online Check-In webpage. NOTE: All New/Incoming International Students are required to complete the Online Check-In requirements.

Additional Information

MIT Institute Official Graduate Student Orientation

The Office of Graduate Education (OGE) partners with the Graduate Student Council (GSC) and other organizations for planning the Institute’s official Graduate Student Orientation. Students are required to check with their academic department to see if they are holding mandatory departmental/program specific orientations. In addition to the required ISO Immigration Orientation Session and any departmental/program specific orientations; the official Graduate Student Orientation also offers helpful sessions. These official Graduate Student Orientation sessions are meant to provide a broad orientation to MIT and life as a graduate student. Therefore, it is helpful for students to attend as many sessions as possible; whether they are offered by their department/program and/or the Institute’s official Graduate Student Orientation schedule. However, as a reminder, the ISO Immigration Orientation Session is MANDATORY.

ISO Grad Welcome Reception

The ISO will host a Graduate Welcome Reception for all new/incoming graduate students and their families (spouse/partners and/or children). Appetizers will be served. While attendance is optional, students are required to sign up in advance to attend. Email invitations will be sent to all new/incoming graduate students, and they must sign up by Tuesday August 22.

  • Date: Tuesday, August 29, 2023.
  • Time: 5:00pm – 7:00pm (EST).

English Evaluation Test (EET)

All New/Incoming Graduate International Students, pursuing a degree at MIT and where English was not their primary language of instruction from the age of six through high school, are required to attend and complete the English Evaluation Test (EET) requirements. Students can find a dates and times to complete the EET Test and frequently asked questions about the EET the Comparative Media Studies/Writing (CMSW) website.

ATTENTION: Students who WILL NOT be entering U.S. to pursue their MIT program are REQUIRED to contact their ISO Advisor BEFORE the start date listed on their MIT “Certificate of Eligibility” document(s) (Form I-20, Form DS-2019)

We look forward to welcoming you to MIT!

  • Return to the ISO ‘Orientation’ webpage
  • Return to the ISO ‘Getting Started’ webpage

Disclaimer: The information on this webpage is for MIT students only. For additional questions, students should email their ISO Advisor directly.

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