The U.S. government’s new verification system for foreign students, SEVIS, starts in August. It intends to track the registrations, whereabouts and activities of all foreign students in the United States.
Students from foreign countries will only be allowed to attend institutions which give the government information through the SEVIS system.
Even if an educational institution previously issued permission for a foreign student to attend (I-20), say last year, it will be against the law to accept the student unless the institution participates in SEVIS.
In all likelihood large numbers of students will transfer to schools that are SEVIS registered, or, failing that, will stop their schooling in the United States altogether and return to their home countries.
Up to May of this year, 6,167 educational organizations and institutions were actively participating in the SEVIS system.
The total number of educational institutions in the country is roughly 73,000. This includes normal four year university and colleges (4,000), state accredited occupation and training schools (6,000), public and private middle and high schools (24,000) and ESL and other institutes (34,000). This means that about 90% of institutions are unable to issue students’ I-20 visas under the new SEVIS guidelines!
Till March of this year, only 90,000 students were registered in SEVIS and almost 580,000 (almost 80%) of foreign students remain unregistered, including 49,000 Koreans.
Since January 30, the government has already started to forbid educational organizations that have not applied to or joined the SEVIS system from issuing I-20 visas. Students or prospective students, who received I-20s before the SEVIS system went into effect, may enter the country on the visas only until August 1. If a student applies for continued training, or an extension of stay, permission must be authorized through the SEVIS system.
Su-Eon Nam, an immigration lawyer said, “Many foreign students have not yet recognized the fact of these new SEVIS regulations. This might cause them great problems in the future. Foreign students must investigate these new visa rules, and prepare themselves to deal with the changed situation.”
He also said, “If a foreign student belongs to an institution that has applied to, and has not yet received confirmation from the new SEVIS system but expects to, the student can continue studying. If the institution will not apply, or will not receive SEVIS confirmation, the student must very seriously consider transferring to an accredited organization quickly--before August of this year.”
