If foreign students are admitted to Indiana University and plan to pay for study with private funds, either their own or funds from family and friends, those students are usually admitted with F-1 status. F-1 status is administered by the Department of Homeland Security. Such students receive an I-20 immigration document, which they submit to a U.S. consulate abroad as part of an application for a visa to travel to the U.S., and which they show when they pass through U.S. immigration inspection.

F-1 students can lose their student status (as far as USCIS is concerned) if they work without authorization, if they fail to make steady progress towards a degree, or if they do not enroll for a full-time course load in the fall and spring semesters. F-1 students generally do not have to take courses in the summer to maintain their student status. Students who are in the IU Intensive English Program and students who begin their degree work in the summer may be required to enroll full-time in the summer. Under special circumstances, students can maintain their status without meeting every one of these requirements, but students should consult with their campus international office first.

Foreign students who receive financial support from a government agency, a university, or other organization, may be required by that organization to enter the U.S. on a J-1 student visa. J visas are for exchange visitors and are administered by the Department of State. J-1 students can lose their student status (as far as the Department of State is concerned) in the same way F-1 students can; by working without authorization, not making progress towards their degree, or not enrolling full-time during the academic year. J-1 students (but never F-1 students) may have a home residency requirement-that is, they may be expected to return home when they have completed their academic program and spend two years in their home country to meet the terms of their visa. Rules regarding home residency requirements are complex. Questions about them should be directed to the campus international office.