Admitted International Students

Welcome to UC San Diego

Congratulations on your UC San Diego admission! As a newly admitted international student, please complete the additional steps listed below.

Complete and Submit a WES Course-by-Course Evaluation to UC San Diego

All admitted students who have earned a degree from an institution outside of the U.S. are required to submit a WES Course-by-Course ICAP Evaluation to UC San Diego in order to have their admission finalized. Do not send your official materials directly to UC San Diego. They must be uploaded to your WES account for further evaluation. Additional details around the WES Course-by-Course evaluation can be found here.

*Please note that a WES Course-by-Course Evaluation is not required to apply for an I-20 or DS-2019.

Apply for Form I-20 or Form DS-2019

Please wait at least 48 hours after accepting admission to complete this step.

International students requiring an F-1 or J-1 visa to study in the USA must request a form I-20 (certificate of eligibility for non-immigrant F-1 students) or form DS-2019 (certificate of eligibility for non-immigrant J-1 exchange visitors). The I-20 or DS-2019 is required to apply for the F-1 or J-1 visa from abroad. International students who are currently in the U.S. in F-1 or J-1 status and plan to transfer their SEVIS record to UC San Diego are also required to submit the I-20 or DS-2019 request.

Submit the I-20 or DS-2019 request through iPortal. To access iPortal, you must first Set up password for your UCSD Personal ID (PID). Please allow at least 24 hours after submitting your Statement of Intent to Register and creating your account and password to access the iPortal. The International Students & Programs Office will begin reviewing I-20 requests on March 1, 2021.
International students must demonstrate financial ability to support studies in the United States. Please refer to this link for required funding for your program and acceptable financial documents to submit: https://ispo.ucsd.edu/submit-request/i20-ds2019-funding.html#Graduate:-Ph.D.-and-Master's-Pr
Review the Pre-Arrival Checklist and make plans to attend the International Student Orientation in September.

For questions regarding your I-20/DS-2019 or F-1/J-1 Visa, please visit here: https://ispo.ucsd.edu/submit-request/i20-ds2019-funding.html

Attend Graduate Student Orientation

International Graduate Students must attend the International Student Orientation. This is in addition to the Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs New Graduate Student Orientation.

Meet the English Language Requirement

English Language Requirement for International Teaching Assistants (TA)

In order to serve as a Teaching Assistant for the first time at UCSD, international graduate students whose first language is not English must be certified as having the requisite English language oral communication skills (regardless of year in the program). International graduate students who are appointed as a Teaching Assistant without being certified are subject to having their TA appointment rescinded by the hiring unit or the Division of Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs. This policy does not apply to students who serve as Teaching Assistants in courses conducted in a language other than English.

Please visit this website for detailed information around language proficiency requirements and scores needed to serve as a teaching assistant.

ISPO Webinars and Events

The Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs and International Students and Programs Office (ISPO) are offering a series of webinars this spring and summer to provide information to incoming international graduate students. Presentations will be posted here after the webinars have ended.

Graduate Students:
Undergraduate Students: