CUNY Announces New Option for International Payments

In an effort to reduce administrative challenges, CUNY now has a new option for international students to make payments in your local currency.

Just log into your CUNYfirst Student Center and click on the Make a Payment button, which will take you to Nelnet QuikPAY. Then select View & Pay Accounts from the left-hand menu. Enter your payment amount in US Dollars and from the Payment Method dropdown box, choose International Payment. Nelnet will then transfer you to Convera’s platform GlobalPay for Students.

You will be presented with several payment options to transfer your funds to Convera. Depending on which country you are making your payment from, GlobalPay for Students allows you to use Providers such as UnionPay and Alipay in China, ICICI in India, Sofort and iDEAL in Europe, and Hana Bank in Korea.

Convera will send your payment to CUNY. Upon receipt of your payment, your student account in CUNYfirst is updated.

For additional information, please go to the International Payments FAQs.

End to ICE COVID Flexibilities

On May 11, 2023, the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) terminated its Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) guidance to coincide with the end of the COVID-19 National Emergency and Public Health Emergency. This means that certain regulations will revert back to their pre-COVID limitations. For more information on what that means for you, please see this link with some frequently answered questions. 

Beware of Scam Calls!

The Student & Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) has reached out to inform us that there has recently been a spoofing scam taking place involving individuals using the SEVP Response Center (SRC) phone number (703-603-3400), or a Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) office phone number (757-441-6533), and claiming to be SRC representatives. The fraudulent callers are asking students to provide their immigration information, such as their Alien Registration Number or Form I-94, “Arrival/Departure Record,” information, or face deportation.

If you are a victim of this spoof call, please report it to the Department of International Student & Scholar Services immediately. We will report it to HSI for an investigation. If you are unsure about the validity of a call from an SEVP official, you can also reach out to us for assistance.

Things to remember:

• SEVP officials will NEVER ask you to provide credit/debit card/gift card numbers, wire transfers, or bank routing numbers, or to make bitcoin deposits for any purpose.
• NEVER divulge personal or financial information to unknown callers.
• Report all suspicious calls to the Department of International Student & Scholar Services immediately.​