To comply with a new state law, the Registrar's office at the University of Missouri -St. Louis is currently asking students to show identification to prove that they are in the United States legally before it will lift a registration hold.
Affected students are those whose legal status could not be electronically verified by the Registrar's Office in accordance with Missouri House Bill 1549, a bill requiring, among other things, that universities verify the legal immigration status of their students.
Before the enactment of HB1549, when a student first applied the UM-St. Louis, he or she was asked to verify if they were a U.S. citizen, permanent resident or non-U.S. citizen.
Now, UM-St. Louis is double-checking all students living on campus to make sure their identity is correct.S
tudents whose status could not be verified electronically will not be allowed to register for spring semester until they provide the appropriate identification to the Registrar's Office.
The following types of documents are accepted by the Registrar's office in order to verify legal status: a valid driver's license, an official Missouri identification card, an official domestic state identification card, U.S. birth certificate, U.S. passport (valid or expired), military identification, certificate of citizenship, certificate of naturalization, Certificate of Birth Abroad, Resident Alien Card "I-551", Passport stamped "Approved I-551", Passport stamped "Processed for I-551", Re-Entry Permit "I-337", I-94 stamped "Processed for I-551", or a Refugee Travel Document (Form I-571) with current valid expiration date. Margaret Mcinerney, graduate student, communication, was one of the people asked to bring documentation to the Registrar's Office. Mcinerney said she showed her passport, but was not sure why she had been asked to provide this.
Students who have questions, like Mcinerney, should contact the Registrar's Office at 314-516-5545. Also, students who have a hold on their registration should submit documentation immediately.
Students will not be able to register for classes until lthey have submitted documentation, and for students who have to take required classes, it is even more important.
Some classes can fill up quickly and others are only available in the spring semester.
Students who miss out on a certain class could end up delaying their graduation.
Documentation may be faxed to the Registrar's Office at 314-516-7096. Students may also take documentation to the Registrar's office, 351 Millennium Student Center.
The Center for Student Success is another place a student can provide documentation, and it is located at 225 MSC. Operating hours of these offices is Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. until 7 p.m. On Friday, the offices are open from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m.
Students also have the option to mail the appropriate documentation to the Registrar's Office. The address is One University Blvd. 351 MSC, St. Louis, MO 63121.
UM-St. Louis thanks students for their assistance in helping the university comply with the new state law.
Anyone wishing to read more about the bill should visit the Missouri House of Representatives Website where a complete text of House Bill 1549 is available or by visiting the Office of the Registrar's webpage through the UM-St Louis.
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