October 3, 2002

Interim Rule Published Requiring Re-Certification of All Schools for SEVIS

An interim rule requiring the re-certification of all schools for purposes of enrolling in SEVIS (Student and Exchange Visitor Information System) was recently published in the Federal Register. Registration in SEVIS will be mandatory for all accredited schools in order to issue Forms 1-20 and to register students; the date for mandatory participation is January 2003. Earlier this year schools that were already accredited by the INS to accept F and M nonimmigrant students were granted preliminary access to apply for certification for SEVIS. Schools taking advantage of this preliminary access avoided paying a full certification fee as well as having to submit to a full certification review. However, this preliminary access ended upon publishing of the new interim rule on September 25, 2002.

Under this new interim rule, all schools who have not yet submited a finalized Form I-17 in SEVIS during the preliminary access must apply for certification for SEVIS without the benefits afforded by the preliminary access period. Schools which did not register for certification now must undergo a certification review and pay a certification fee prior to enrollment in SEVIS. The interim rule outlines the exact procedures schools must follow to apply for certification for SEVIS.

  Federal Register: Requiring Certification of all Service Approved Schools for Enrollment in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) (PDF/60 kb, 6 pages)