Terra Dotta

Terra Dotta Programs that went live on September 11 – No longer accepted via email September 18th

Name of Request Before Terra	Name of Request in Terra Dotta	Where to find the Request	Additional Record Created after ISS Process
Request Copies of Immigration Documents	Immigration Document Replacement / Copy Request (F-1 Students)	https://tamu-iss.terradotta.com/?go=F-1 Replacement Copy	None
	Immigration Document Replacement / Copy Request (J-1 Students)	https://tamu-iss.terradotta.com/?go=J-1 Replacement Copy	None
Travel Signature Request	F-1 Travel Signature Request	https://tamu-iss.terradotta.com/?go=F-1 Travel Signature	None
	J-1 Travel Signature Request	https://tamu-iss.terradotta.com/?go=J-1 Travel Signature	None
Co-enrollment / Concurrent Enrollment	Co-Enrollment / Other School Enrollment Request	https://tamu-iss.terradotta.com/?go=F-1 Co-Enrollment	None
Social Security Endorsement	F-1 Social Security Endorsement	https://tamu-iss.terradotta.com/?go=F-1 SSN	None
OPT Employment Reporting Form	OPT Employment Update (F-M)	https://tamu-iss.terradotta.com/?go=OPT%20Reporting	None
STEM Extension Employment Reporting Form	STEM 6 Month Validation Reporting	https://tamu-iss.terradotta.com/?go=STEM Reporting	None
	STEM 12 Month Validation Reporting		None
	STEM 18 Month Validation Reporting		None
	STEM 24 Month Validation Reporting		None
	Material Change to STEM OPT Employment		None
24 Month STEM Extension	STEM OPT Extension (F-M)	https://tamu-iss.terradotta.com/?go=STEM OPT	None
SEVIS Transfer Release	F-M SEVIS Transfer Out	https://tamu-iss.terradotta.com/?go=F-1 Transfer	None
	SEVIS to SEVIS Transfer (J)	https://tamu-iss.terradotta.com/?go=J-1 Transfer	None
Sponsor Letter Request	Sponsored Student Letter Request	https://tamu-iss.terradotta.com/?go=Sponsored Letter	None
Permanent Resident Card	Lawful Permanent Resident Update	https://tamu-iss.terradotta.com/?go=LPR	None

 

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Terra Dotta Programs that went live on September 28 – No longer accepted via email October 1st:

Name of Request Before Terra	Name of Request in Terra Dotta	Where to find the Request	Additional Record Created after ISS Process
Reduced Course Load – Academic	Reduced Course Load Academic Difficulty (F-1 Students)	https://tamu-iss.terradotta.com/?go=F-1 RCL	Request Authorization for Reduced Courseload (F-M)
	Reduced Course Load – Bona Fide Academic Reason (J-1 Students)	https://tamu-iss.terradotta.com/?go=J-1 RCL	None
Reduced Course Load – Final Term	Reduced Course Load Final Term (F-1 Students)	https://tamu-iss.terradotta.com/?go=F-1 RCL	Request Authorization for Reduced Courseload (F-M)
	Reduced Course Load – Final Term (J-1 Students)	https://tamu-iss.terradotta.com/?go=J-1 RCL	None
Reduced Course Load - Medical	Reduced Course Load Medical Reasons (F-1 Students)	https://tamu-iss.terradotta.com/?go=F-1 RCL	Request Authorization for Reduced Courseload (F-M)
	Reduced Course Load – Medical Condition (J-1 Students)	https://tamu-iss.terradotta.com/?go=J-1 RCL	None
Extension of Stay	Program Extension (F-M)	https://tamu-iss.terradotta.com/?go=F-1 EOS	None
	Program Extension (J)	https://tamu-iss.terradotta.com/?go=J-1 EOS	None
Authorized Early Withdrawal	Leave of Absence (F-M)	https://tamu-iss.terradotta.com/?go=F-1 AEW	None
	Leave of Absence (J)	https://tamu-iss.terradotta.com/?go=J-1 AEW	None
SEVIS J Employment	On-Campus Employment (J)	https://tamu-iss.terradotta.com/?go=J-1 On-Campus Employment	None

 

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Terra Dotta Programs that went live on October 2nd – No longer accepted via email October 5th

Name of Request Before Terra	Name of Request in Terra Dotta	Where to find the Request	Additional Record Created after ISS Process
Curricular Practical Training (CPT)	Curricular Practical Training (CPT) (F-M)	https://tamu-iss.terradotta.com/?go=CPT	None
Optional Practical Training	Optional Practical Training (OPT) (F-M)	https://tamu-iss.terradotta.com/?go=OPT	None

 

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Terra Dotta Programs that went live on October 12^th – No longer accepted via email as of October 14^th

Name of Request Before Terra	Name of Request in Terra Dotta	Where to find the Request	Additional Record Created after ISS Process
Did not Exist	Matriculation (J)	https://tamu-iss.terradotta.com/?go=Matriculation	None
Change of Major	Change of Major (J)	https://tamu-iss.terradotta.com/?go=J-1 CoM	None
Financial Information Update	Change of Financial Support (J)	https://tamu-iss.terradotta.com/?go=J-1 CoFS	None
	Change of Financial Support (F)	https://tamu-iss.terradotta.com/?go=F-1 CoFS	None
Program Information Update	Program Information Update (F-1)	https://tamu-iss.terradotta.com/?go=Academic_Program_Update	A new academic objective record may be created as part of this request.
Change of Education Level	Change of Education Level (F-M)
Did not exist	Change of SEVIS Campus

When emailing a request to ISS, please include the following: 

• Name of request in subject line of email
• Full name
• UIN
• All required documents in pdf format 

An ISS staff member will create a record with your request in Terra Dotta. You will receive an automated email from Terra Dotta with information on how to view your submitted application. 

Below you will find the requests we are currently accepting via email.  We anticipate to have these live before the end of December. 

• J-1 Academic Training
• H-1B and Cap Gap Extensions
• Request to End F-1 Status
• Request to End J-1 Status
• On-Campus Employment at an Off-Campus Location (F-1 Students Only)
• Personal Information Update F-1 and J-1 Students
• Change of Status to F-1
• Change of Status to J-1
• Change of Status Check-In (F-1)
• Change of Status Check-In (J-1)
• Add Dependent (F-1)
• Remove Dependent (F-1)
• Add Dependent (J-1)
• Remove Dependent (J-1)
• Updates to our Dependent Check-In Programs
• Reinstatement or Re-Entry Requests for F-1 and J-1 Students
• Reinstatement or Re-Entry Check-Ins for F-1 and J-1 Students

The intent behind the implementation was to use the system to deliver information directly to SEVIS. Unfortunately, this was not feasible for all requests. As a result, students may see two records as part of our process in completing your request. In most cases, you will see the request you submitted as one record and the record Terra Dotta uses to mark SEVIS actions, usually marked with (F-M) or (J) at the end. This is by design.

There are two types of records that students will see within the User Profile within Terra Dotta. They are: 

 

1. Records that are linked to SEVIS 
2. Records that are NOT linked to SEVIS 

As we complete our implementation of Terra Dotta in Fall 2020, we are building out the records that are linked to SEVIS so that students can submit them.  In some cases, the student will be filling out the information that ultimately is placed in the SEVIS database.  These records usually have (F-M) or (J) at the end of their names.  

Records that are not linked to SEVIS are programs that were created due to the complexity of the request. After ISS staff process these requests, there are instances where a SEVIS linked record is created automatically through the interaction between Terra Dotta and SEVIS. For these requests, two records are visible to the student after the request has been processed. The first record is the student-submitted request. The second record is the SEVIS- linked record indicating that the process has been completed within the SEVIS database. 

A good example of this process is Reduced Course Load (RCL) Requests. There are 3 distinct student-submitted Terra Dotta programs used for these requests; however, there is only one SEVIS-linked record that relates to RCL for F-1 students.  A student who submits any RCL request (or record) within the Terra Dotta system will end up with two records when the request is complete. One is the RCL request (or record) that the student submitted. The other is the SEVIS-linked record indicating that the process was completed in SEVIS, called Request Authorization for Reduced Courseload (F-M).  Students are not expected to know what process creates which records, but we wanted to explain this to everyone as this is by design and can be confusing. 

Terra Dotta does not allow for programs (or records) to share names. Since we had built out multiple programs in response to COVID-19 in March, we had to use different names for requests for our full implementation of the software. In some instances, students are now submitting the records that would be created when ISS staff processed the request within the SEVIS database. These records have extremely specific names that we cannot change. We apologize for the confusion, but we tried to keep the names everyone was used to on our public site at tamu-iss.terradotta.com.  Once we have completed the implementation of Terra Dotta for Fall 2020, we plan to revamp this site to house a comprehensive list of programs. This list will include how to submit a request, which requests require an appointment first, and details on where to find more information about the request across the many websites on iss.tamu.edu. It will take some time write this content. We appreciate your patience as we gather all the necessary information and updates.
 

We have received many reports from students that the information on our website detailing information about each type of request is out of date. Due to the transition period we had built into our programs launching, we did not want to remove certain elements from our website to facilitate the continued submission of some requests via e-mail. Unfortunately, this caused some confusion about how to submit a request and what the requirements were. As stated above, we plan to completely revamp the iss.tamu.edu/terra-dotta webpage to be a one-stop shop detailing how to submit a request to International Student Services. We appreciate your patience as we work to update areas across our website. There are currently 57 pages that require substantial edits, and we are focusing our efforts on ensuring that tamu-iss.terradotta.com is accurate and accepting your requests. We appreciate your patience as we work towards getting everything up to date.
 

NO!

Requests submitted via the inbox prior to communicated deadlines directly to students and updates posted to this website are still being created on student’s behalf within the Terra Dotta system. Students should not submit a duplicate request within Terra Dotta. This will cause significant delays in processing your request.

No!

Once a program is launched via Terra Dotta, we will communicate a specific period of time where we will still accept these requests via e-mail. After that specific period of time is in the past, ISS will no longer create the request on students behalf. ISS will instead:

1. Return the request to the student
2. Explain to the student to submit the request via Terra Dotta

We appreciate your patience and understanding.