DSO is an abbreviation for Designated School Officer, and refers specifically to a person officially designated to handle visa-related issues at a university, sign I-20 forms, and the like. This is usually but not always the international/foreign student adviser. An “RO” is the Responsible Officer for a J-1 exchange program, and is the person who you report visa changes to if you are on J-1 status—this will usually not be your university international student adviser but will instead be someone working with the particular exchange program. You need to verify who your DSO or RO is and to check in with them on arrival to the United States.

No, failing an exam or class will not directly affect visa status. Students are required to be enrolled in a full-time academic program and working toward an educational goal, but no particular grade point average or pass-fail level is required. It is up to your university to decide if your grades are so bad that you can no longer be described as making normal progress toward your educational goal, but this will generally be a problem only in extreme situations, for example if you have failed every class. Suspension for academic reasons (or any other reason) would also be a problem in that all international students are required to be enrolled in a full-time academic program to maintain their visa status.

You need to check with your international student adviser. Most commonly you will not be eligible to work off-campus during your first year of study and will be limited during that time to twenty hours per week of on-campus work. Any employment must be approved by a university DSO and/or the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement before you accept it. M-1 students cannot accept paid employment at all.

No, if they received their visas as your dependents they are not allowed to accept paid employment.

You will be considered “out of status” and may be subject to losing your visa and having to return home without completing your academic program, then being prohibited from reentering the United States for a number of years. Your DSO/RO may be able to help you correct the situation before things reach this point, but it is neither simple nor always possible to do so. Therefore, keep your DSO or RO informed and have him or her approve any work opportunities that you may be offered before you accept them, to ensure that you are meeting the terms of your visa status.

If you are convicted of a felony (a serious crime) you may have to leave the country after you deal with U.S. legal penalties. An order of deportation for this reason can now be appealed in immigration court but it is still the rule rather than the exception to be deported in such a case.

If you take a break from your academic program for more than five months for any reason, you will be considered out of student visa status and will likely need to apply for a new visa. (However, studying overseas or in another U.S. location as part of your university’s academic program for longer than five months is not a visa status problem.)

In general, you simply need to keep the DSO at your university informed (or keep the RO for your exchange program informed if you are in J-1 status). You need to report to the DSO/RO within thirty days of your U.S. arrival. You also need to report to the DSO/RO if your permanent address at home or in the United States changes or if you will be away from your U.S. address for more than a month; if you are planning to transfer to another school or change your field of study; or if you get married or divorced, have a child, bring another dependent to the United States, or if a dependent leaves the United States for more than five months. You also of course need to consult with the DSO/RO regarding any criminal charges or convictions and regarding the work and academic difficulty issues described in the questions above.

Failing to report such changes promptly can put you out of visa status, requiring that you be “reinstated” in proper status by your DSO/RO. There are often time limits for them to make changes, and these are much stricter since the computerized SEVIS system was introduced, so you need to be sure to alert the DSO/RO right away of any changes or possible problems such as those described above.

No, you just need to ask the first school that you attended to record in SEVIS that you are leaving them to transfer to another school, and have the school to which you are transferring then enter you in their SEVIS records. Transferring is very common.

You need to pass through an airport or other international departure point and be registered there prior to leaving. You will need to show your I-94 form as well as other travel documents.

Port of entry and port of exit checks are intended primarily to verify your identity; to verify that you are indeed you and not someone else using your altered papers.

You can travel within the United States without going through any special processes—you just need to notify your DSO/RO if you will be away for more than a month and provide addresses where you can be reached. You should also keep your visa and other travel documents with you while traveling (and at other times) in case you need to show that you are in the United States legally.