Whether or not you caused the collision, stop, exchange and report honestly—ordinary civil fault alone does not end your F-1 status, but DUI or leaving the scene creates a separate legal risk.

Additional Requirements for Filing a Crash Report

If a person is injured or killed, you are legally required to immediately notify the police. This is in addition to filing a crash report. If the crash caused property damage only, you must exchange information about your driver license, insurance, and registration with the involved drivers. A crash listed on your driving record does not indicate that you were at fault. The DMV does not try to determine fault in a crash.

§ 600(1)(a)

Any person operating a motor vehicle who, knowing or having cause to know that damage has been caused to the real property or to the personal property, not including animals, of another, due to an incident involving the motor vehicle operated by such person shall, before leaving the place where the damage occurred, stop, exhibit his or her license and insurance identification card for such vehicle, when such card is required pursuant to articles six and eight of this chapter, and give his or her name, residence, including street and number, insurance carrier and insurance identification information including but not limited to the number and effective dates of said individual's insurance policy, and license number to the party sustaining the damage, or in case the person sustaining the damage is not present at the place where the damage occurred then he or she shall report the same as soon as physically able to the nearest police station, or judicial officer.

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IMPORTANT: You must report within 10 days any crash occurring in New York State causing a fatality, personal injury or damage over $1,000 to the property of any one person. Failure to do so within 10 days is a misdemeanor. Your license and/or registration may be suspended until a report is filed.

If you cannot move your vehicle, or if medical assistance is needed, dial "911" and follow the operator's instructions. If your vehicle is operable, and neither you nor any passengers with you have suffered any injuries, you should move to a secure location (such as the nearest shoulder, the median, or the rightmost lane of the road) before exiting to assess the situation.

No-Fault Benefits—Personal Injury Protection

No-Fault, also called Personal Injury Protection (PIP), is designed to pay promptly, regardless of who is at fault or whether there was any negligence, for economic losses (meaning medical/health expenses, lost earnings, and certain other reasonable and necessary expenses related to injuries sustained), up to $50,000 per person ("basic No-Fault coverage"), to the driver and all passengers injured in your car as well as any pedestrians injured by your car, because of its use or operation in New York State. No-Fault is a personal injury coverage and does not pay for auto body repair of your car or damage to any other party’s motor vehicle or other personal property.

Liability Insurance; Collision Coverage

In addition, your insurance company must provide you with a legal defense against such claims, without reducing your policy's liability limits. With this optional insurance, your own insurer pays you, without regard to fault, for damage to your car caused by a collision with another car or any other object or your car overturning.

When and where should I file my No-Fault claim?

Regulation 68 requires that "in the event of an accident, written notice setting forth details sufficient to identify the eligible injured person, along with reasonably obtainable information regarding the time, place and circumstances of the accident, shall be given by, or on behalf of, each eligible injured person, to the applicable No-Fault insurer, or any of their authorized agents, as soon as reasonably practicable, but in no event more than 30 days after the date of the accident, unless the eligible injured person submits written proof providing clear and reasonable justification for the failure to comply with such time limitation." The revised Regulation modified the timeframes in which to submit written notice of claim from 90 to 30 days and to submit medical bills from 180 to 45 days, respectively, and mandated that lost wage claims must be submitted within 90 days.

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If the student fails to carry a full-course load unless authorized by DSO in accordance with 8 CFR 214.2(f)(6)(iii), the student has failed to maintain a valid F-1 status.

Maintain a full course of study each term. If you cannot study full time, contact your DSO immediately. You may be eligible for a reduced course load in limited circumstances. An F student may only work when authorized by a DSO in some cases, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in others.

Admission to the United States and your Duration of Stay

Additionally, the visa expiration date shown on your visa does not reflect how long you are authorized to stay within the United States. On the admission stamp or paper Form I-94, the U.S. immigration inspector records either an admitted-until date or "D/S" (duration of status).

403.11-3(B); 403.11-5(B)(c)

Under no circumstances should you revoke a visa when the individual is in the United States, or after the individual has commenced an uninterrupted journey to the United States, other than a revocation based on driving under the influence (DUI). Before doing so, re-send the fingerprints to NGI to obtain a RAP sheet for an arrest or conviction of driving under the influence, driving while intoxicated, or similar arrests/convictions (DUI) that occurred within the previous five years.

TO ENABLE US TO DETERMINE IF YOUR ARE ENTITLED TO BENEFITS UNDER THE NEW YORK NO-FAULT LAW, PLEASE COMPLETE THIS FORM AND RETURN IT PROMPTLY. TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR BENEFITS YOU MUST COMPLETE AND SIGN THIS APPLICATION.