Financial Services for International Students

Working at St. Lawrence University
Students with an F-1 visa status are authorized to work at St. Lawrence University for no more than 20 hours/week while school is in session and 40 hours/week during breaks.   Before starting work, however, the student must go to the Business Office to complete an I-9 (Employment Eligibility Verification) and W-4 (Employee Withholding Allowance Certificate) form.   The  I-9 form requires proof of identification and citizenship such as an unexpired passport so students should bring these with them.  The W-4 form is used to determine how much income tax must be withheld from a student’s pay.  International Students must claim Single, may claim 0 or 1 withholdings, and must write “NRA”  above the dotted line on line 6.

Students working on campus will need to acquire a Social Security Number from the U.S. government and may do this at the Social Security Office located at 818 Commerce Park Dr. in Ogdensburg, NY.  The coordinator of International Student Services will assist in transporting students to this location at the start of a semester.  In order to apply for a for a social security number, students need to bring the following documents:

Completed Form SS-5
Letter of employment
Letter of status
Passport and I-94
I-20
Student ID  

Students will generally receive a Social Security card by mail within 4 to 6 weeks of the application.  The card should be brought to the Business Office for recording purposes.
 
In order to receive salary payments, students must submit the hours they have worked to their supervisor.  Salary payments are issued to students every other Friday for the days worked during the 2 week period ended the previous Sunday. 

Students are highly encouraged to enroll in direct deposit which allows the university to directly deposit a student’s salary payment to the student’s bank account.  This eliminates the need for picking up and depositing checks and forwarding mailing instructions for school breaks.  Enrolling simply requires submitting a completed direct deposit form to the Business Office.

Taxes
All residents of the U.S., including international students, are required to file annual tax returns (1040NR-EZ or 1040NR and 8843) by each April 15th for the preceding calendar year.  In order to assist international students with this process, tax workshops are held on campus one day in March.  The tax forms to be completed will be supplied and students should bring the following tax statements they may have received from the Business Office in January or February.

W-2 forms
All students who worked during the calendar year will receive a W-2 statement from the Business Office which states the wages earned and taxes withheld on the earnings.  The only exception is for students whose wages are exempt from tax because they have applied for tax treaty benefits.  These wages are reported on the 1042-S form described below.

1042-S forms
All students who received scholarship and or fellowships for expenses other than tuition will receive a 1042-S which states the amount of the scholarship or fellowship and taxes paid on the scholarship.
The U.S. has tax treaties in effect with many countries which exempt students’ wages and/or scholarships’ from taxes while in the U.S.  Students may submit a request to receive treaty benefits by completing certain required documents in the Business Office.  Any wages paid without being subject to tax due to a treaty exemption are also reported on the 1042-S.