The Department of State has issued a reminder cable about the SEVIS fee, which went into effect on September 1.  Before applying for F, J and M visas with initial I-20 or DS-2019 forms issued on or after this date, individuals must pay the "SEVIS I-901 fee."  Most students and exchange visitors will pay the full $100 SEVIS fee, which is non-refundable unless it is paid in error.  Certain short-term exchange visitors (au pairs, summer work/travel and camp counselors) will pay a reduced fee of $35.  Individuals participating in a program sponsored by the Federal Government whose program number prefix begins with "G-1," "G-2" or "G-3" are statutorily exempt from the fee.  Only principal applicants pay the SEVIS fee prior to visa issuance; F-2, J-2, and M-2 derivatives need not pay.  Foreign students in the U.S. who are studying while in another nonimmigrant classification likewise do not have to pay.

Schools and exchange programs should provide their students and exchange visitors with Form I-901, the SEVIS Fee Application, but it is also available on the SEVIS fee website, the DHS SEVIS website, and at domestic DHS form centers.  Individuals can pay the fee with a credit card at www.fmjfee.gov or with a U.S. dollar check or international money order mailed to a lockbox address in the United States.  An exchange visitor program sponsor may pay the fees for its participants directly to DHS in a "bulk payment" process if DHS first approves the sponsor's participation in this payment process.  DHS is also negotiating with Western Union to collect the SEVIS fee.  Until the two in-country SEVIS fee collection pilot programs are operative in India and China, students and exchange visitors from those two countries should use the two available SEVIS fee collection methods provided by DHS.

The SEVIS CCD screen will indicate whether the SEVIS fee has been paid, but verification of a fee paid less than three days before an interview may not appear on CCD.  In this case, consular officers may accept the receipt for SEVIS fee payment, either generated by the website or sent to the applicant by mail on a Form I-797, as proof of payment.  The SEVIS fee paid on one Form I-20 may be applied to a different Form I-20.  Similarly, the SEVIS fee paid on one Form DS-2019 may be applied to a different Form DS-2019 if the SEVIS fee paid is greater than or equal to the SEVIS fee due.  Consular officers must deny visas to applicants who cannot prove that they have paid the SEVIS fee. 

Generally, nonimmigrants must only pay the SEVIS fee once, as long as they maintain the status in which they were initially admitted.  For F or M
students, the covered period generally extends from the time the students obtain F or M status to the time they fall out of status, change status, or
leave the U.S. for an extended period of time.  F or M students will not be required to pay a new fee upon transfer to a new school, extension of stay, change in educational level, when obtaining a new visa for re-entry for program continuation, upon a temporary absence of less than 5 months, or upon a period of approved absence in which the students are studying abroad as part of their U.S. educational program requirements.  J exchange visitors who apply for reinstatement after a substantive violation of status, or who have been out of valid program status for longer than 120 days but less than 270 days during their program, must pay a new fee.  Moreover, some nonimmigrants who participate in multiple subsequent programs will have to pay a new fee for each new program.

More information on SEVIS and the SEVIS fee can be found on the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Student and Exchange Visitor Program
(SEVP) web site, www.ice.gov/sevis.