Trojan International Checklist

Welcome! Trojan International (TI) is the immigration services portal for USC’s F-1 international student population. Students admitted to USC must request their I-20 through Trojan International. Current USC students starting a new degree program may also need to request a new I-20 from Admissions. Please use this checklist to prepare.  Note: This content is only for students starting a new USC program via Admissions. OIS will have separate Trojan International forms for current students in need of immigration services.

Overview

Obtaining an I-20 from USC is entirely a post–admission process. USC does not require any I-20 documents while your application for admission is under review. Documents such as a passport copy or financial statement are required only after a student has been admitted to the university and they have also submitted a Statement of Intent committing to attend USC.

Accessing Trojan International

Access to Trojan International is given only* to applicants who:

  1. Have been fully admitted to a USC degree program in the current admission cycle (2024)
  2. Have submitted a Statement of Intent certifying they will attend USC. Some programs may require a deposit.
  3. Have activated their USC NetID (Can activate 1-3 days after certifying). The NetID is required to log into TI. After activating your NetID, please wait approximately 1 day before logging into TI.

*Current USC international students will also be able to access Trojan International with their NetID. Current USC students admitted to a new degree program in 2024 must also use TI to request a new I-20 (Change of Education Level I-20). For more information about the Change of Education Level I-20, please read the I-20 descriptions on our main page.

International Academy students admitted to a regular USC degree program must request a Transfer I-20.

Admitted + certified students who have withdrawn their admission application from USC will not have access to TI.

Trojan International E-Forms

To request an I-20, a student must complete and submit a group of electronic forms (E-Forms) in Trojan International. Students will also upload their financial statement, passport, and any other necessary documents into the TI E-forms. Some E-Form questions will include:

  1. What type of I-20 do you need? (For a list of I-20 types, please see our main I-20 page) The majority will need Initial I-20s.
  2. Enter your name as shown on your passport (name guidelines will be provided on the E-Form)
  3. Enter your date of birth, city of birth, country of citizenship, birth country, international address.
  4. Are you currently in the U.S. on a visa? What is your immigration status? Do you have a U.S. address?
  5. Are you bringing dependents? What are their passport names, DOB, city of birth, etc.?
  6. Enter your financial sources (Personal, Other, USC Scholarship) and how much funding you will receive from each.
  7. Upload copies of your financial statements (more details on this below)

To begin, log into Trojan International and then select the Admission menu to the left (a computer browser is recommended). On the following page, click New F-1 Student Request. To request an I-20, all the E-forms in the New F-1 Student Request section must be submitted. Please read all instructions carefully.

PREPARING YOUR DOCUMENTS

1. Your passport copy

  1. Prepare a copy of your passport’s biographical page. No other page is needed. Do not provide photos of the passport cover or your other visa stamps.
  2. Save it as a single file (PDF, PNG, JPG) no larger than 10 MB. Compressed files or download links will not be accepted.
  3. Your passport must be valid at least 6 months after your arrival in the U.S.
  4. For SEVIS transfers only: Be prepared to provide a copy of your current school’s I-20

2. Your financial documents.

Ensure your financial documents a) meet the necessary requirements b) have sufficient funds c) are separated correctly

  1. First, determine the required I-20 cost amount for your program from the financial guidelines page. Add any dependent costs, if applicable. Then, ensure the sum of all the funds on your documents meets or exceeds the total, required amount. You may use xe.com to convert any currency to U.S. dollars.
  2. Separate all your financial document(s) into 4 categories. Not every category will be applicable to you.
    a) Personal Funds (i.e. bank accounts under your name only)
    b) Other Funds (i.e. parent bank accounts, support letters from your job, government scholarships, etc.)
    c) USC Sponsored Studies form* (Required if your are submitting Other funds such as bank statements from your family. But not required for government scholarships or funding by major companies where a formal letter is enough)
    d) USC Scholarship documentation, if any (i.e. award letters)
  3. For each category above, combine the documents into one digital file (PDF, PNG, JPG only, 10MB max). For example, your personal bank statements should be combined into one file (Personal funds). If you have bank statements from your parents (Other funds), put them in a separate file. If, for example, you, your family, and your job are providing funds, keep the documents separated in their own groups. Each group will be uploaded separately.

* Undergraduates can submit the Financial Statement of Personal or Family Support instead.

Important: If you have more than one category that individually has enough funds to meet all your costs, then submit only the one category you prefer. For example, if you have enough Personal funds to cover all your costs but your Other Funds can also cover all your costs, then provide only one category that you prefer to appear on the I-20. This cannot be changed later. If you are receiving a full scholarship that will cover all your costs, submit only the scholarship (But if, for example, you have extra dependent costs that are not covered by the scholarship, then you should also submit Personal or Other funds)

Do not provide an excessive number of financial statements from the same account as it can lead to confusion. Only the final balance of an account is needed—not a history of transactions. A one page letter is ideal. If USC has difficulty determining your funds because of excessive or confusing documents, your I-20 application may be delayed or denied.

USC may adjust the submitted amounts to correct errors, categories, or to reflect new exchange rates. If your documents are insufficient or unacceptable, you will be contacted and your I-20 will be delayed. Your documents will be reviewed within 10 business days. If they are accepted and approved, the I-20 will be issued and sent to you as an email attachment.

Dependent I-20s

If you are bringing a legal spouse and/or children to the U.S., Trojan International will also require:

  1. Copies of their passport biographical page. Follow the same guidelines as above. Separate each dependent’s passport digital file. They must be uploaded separately.
  2. A legal spouse will also require a copy of your marriage certificate. Keep this a separate file.
  3. Children will require a birth certificate. Keep these also as a separate file.
  4. Your financial statements must be able to cover an additional $14,253 for your spouse and $7,127 for each child. Any official scholarship from a government, university, or organization must either have sufficient funds to cover your dependents or explicitly state that your dependents’ expenses will be funded.

WHO SHOULD NOT USE THIS CHECKLIST

This checklist is only for students admitted to the 2024 school year who require an I-20 from Admissions to study at USC.

  1. If you already have an existing non-immigrant, non-F1 visa (H-1B, H4, L2, etc.) that permits study in the United States and you plan on remaining on that visa at USC, do not request an I-20 in Trojan International.
  2. Students in fully online degree programs, new International Academy admits, progressive degree students, and visiting students cannot obtain an I-20 from Admissions in Trojan International.
  3. If you need to attend USC on a J-1 Student Visa and need a DS-2019, please submit your request to the Office of Admission at this link and select “DS-2019” under “Immigration Matters (I-20s, Visas, etc.). But if your documents are already being issued by the Fulbright Program, you should not request a DS-2019 from USC.

FOR DEPARTMENTS

Please ensure you are submitting scholarship/funding information to the Office of Graduate Admission via the standard process. The information will be used to validate any scholarship that your students report on the Trojan International E-form. If the student reports a scholarship in Trojan International but there is no accompanying confirmation from the department, the I-20 will be delayed.

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