NAFSA MEETS WITH INS ABOUT NEW INTERNATIONAL STUDENT TRACKING SYSTEM

Early this month the INS briefed NAFSA, the group representing most foreign student advisors in the US, on the implementation of the new student tracking system.  Known as SEVIS (Student and Exchange Visitors Information System), the system will initially replace the CIPRIS (Coordinated Interagency Partnership Regulating International Students) pilot program currently being used to track international students at a handful of schools.  As with the CIPRIS system, SEVIS will initially be limited to a few schools so that technical problems can be worked out before it is introduced on a national scale.

According to NAFSA, the INS hopes to have the internet-based interactive part of the system in place on July 1, 2002, and the full system up and running on a national scale by January 1, 2003.  It will then publish a regulation in the Federal Register that will set forth the procedures for compliance with the system, including the dates by which schools must be participating.  The regulation is expected to be published this spring, but the date by which schools must be participating is still unknown.

The fees that must be paid by the student, and the method by which they must pay it, have not been decided.  One of the primary objections to CIPRIS was the fact that schools were charged with collecting the fees and then remitting them to the INS.  Schools objected to being placed in this position.  Whether this continues to be a concern after the events of September 11th remains to be seen.

Finally, schools that are currently authorized to issue I-20s will have to obtain new authorization to participate in SEVIS.  While the INS says it is looking for ways to ease the reauthorization process, it is likely that the agency will also review some schools for their suitability to sponsor international students.