Many of you have been asking if you can move your internship or trainee dates to 2021. In many cases you will be able to do so. If you would like information on how to do this, please email our team at info@istplus.com and we'll be in touch with details.

A couple of things to note when moving dates to 2021:

1. Your SEVIS payment of $220 (this was included in your original programme fee) will become invalid after one year from the date it was issued. This means, in some cases, you will be required to pay another SEVIS fee in order to complete the process again. For example, if your SEVIS confirmation was issued in January 2020, but your new programme starts in August 2021, it is likely that when you are able to book your interview at the US Embassy your original fee will no longer be valid for your programme. This is because you are not able to book an interview more than 6 months in advance of your trip to the US - and this may change in 2021 to no more than 4 months in advance.
2. Any application moving from 2020 to 2021 will need a revised training plan with new dates for 2021 PLUS we will need to issue you with a new DS-2019 Certificate of Eligibility in order for you to be able to book and attend an interview at the embassy.
3. Any new dates will need to be confirmed by your Host Company in the US and you before legal paperwork can be sent to you
4. For most, we will require new and updated documentation (including an updated proof of student status for the 2021 academic year) in order to be able to process the new application
5. We will also ask you for updated address information (you will be able to add this into your online account).
6. It is likely that you will need to again sign off on both parts of your account in order for us to be able to process any new dates
7. Please make sure your passport is still valid - ie that it will have at least 6 months left on it at the time you LEAVE the US on your programme. If not, we strongly recommend applying for a new passport as soon as possible as you will need to submit this with your other supporting documents

All this is a work in progress at the moment, as the teams in the US are working very hard to be able to transfer applications from 2020 to 2021. It's not a situation anyone could imagine just 6 months ago so please bear with us!

Many thanks. The IST Plus InfoTeam