International Student Service Fee

This is a fee that is assessed to international students for services rendered to them by Berkeley International Office (BIO). It will be assessed to all  international students in F or J status who are sponsored by the University of California, Berkeley.

This fee provides a stable, "fenced" funding source that allows BIO to operate independently of general university budget fluctuations. It ensures the office remains optimally staffed with immigration experts dedicated to protecting your visa status and enhancing the overall international student experience.

Starting in Fall 2026, the $100 International Student Service Fee is assessed each semester/term to all international students enrolled online or in person on F and J visas at UC Berkeley, and becomes non-refundable on the first day of classes.

By paying this fee, you are ensuring that BIO can maintain and improve upon our specialized services. Specifically, this includes:

• Priority Compliance & Reporting: BIO handles the critical task of issuing I-20 and DS-2019 documents and ensuring all federal reporting requirements are met accurately and on time.
• Streamlined Access to Expertise: By funding optimal staffing levels, this fee will reduce wait times for one-on-one advising and ensure a timely turnaround for travel signatures, employment authorizations (CPT, OPT, and Academic Training), and other essential immigration processes.
• High-touch Communication: This fee supports a dedicated communications infrastructure that delivers critical immigration alerts, weekly guidance, and real-time website updates. This ensures you are the first to know about federal policy changes and essential immigration reminders.
• Holistic Support: From your first pre-arrival questions to your final graduation hurdles, these funds ensure BIO can offer programs and resources that support the international student journey as a whole.

This fee is necessary to ensure a stable funding source for the Berkeley International Office in light of its immigration reporting requirements. The fee will ensure that BIO will be consistently staffed at an optimal level to provide the necessary advising and other support services required to ensure that we meet our compliance responsibilities as well as to support the student experience.

Existing fees go towards supporting a variety of student services departments across the campus who support all students including international students e.g. Student Learning, Center, Academic Advisors, Cal Central, Registrar, etc. Because these fees are spread across the university, BIO is unable to receive the proper level of support needed to sustain the unique services it must provide to international students while also meeting government reporting requirements.

There are many universities across the US that have implemented a variety of fees to support these services at varying fee levels.

If you transition to a non-F/J visa classification before the first day of classes, the fee will be waived for that term and all future semesters. If your status change occurs after the start of the term, the fee will remain for the current semester but will be removed for all subsequent terms.

Please notify BIO to report your change of status. You will need to upload official documentation (such as an I-797 Approval Notice) as evidence of your new status.