News Releases and Statements

The report notes that there were 1.52 million active records in SEVIS for F-1 and M-1 students during calendar year 2019, a 1.7 percent decrease from calendar year 2018. There were 532,711 records in SEVIS for J-1 exchange visitors during calendar year 2019, a 1.7 percent increase from calendar year 2018.

Nonimmigrant students and schools certified by the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) should abide by SEVP guidance originally issued in March 2020. The guidance enables schools and students to engage in distance learning in excess of regulatory limits due to the public health emergency generated by COVID-19. The March 2020 guidance applies to nonimmigrant students who were actively enrolled at a U.S. school on March 9 and are otherwise complying with the terms of their nonimmigrant status, whether from inside the U.S. or abroad. SEVP will not issue a temporary final rule impacting nonimmigrant students for the fall school term.

Due to COVID-19, SEVP instituted a temporary exemption regarding online courses for the spring and summer semesters. This policy permitted nonimmigrant students to take more online courses than normally permitted by federal regulation to maintain their nonimmigrant status during the COVID-19 emergency.

According to court records, from approximately February 2017 through January 2019, the defendants, a group of foreign citizens, conspired with each other and others to fraudulently facilitate hundreds of foreign nationals in illegally remaining and working in the United States by actively recruiting them to enroll into a metro Detroit private university that, unbeknownst to the conspirators, was operated by HSI special agents as part of an undercover operation.

The Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) oversees two types of practical training program for international students, curricular practical training (CPT) and optional practical training (OPT). The two programs, however, have different requirements and purposes. As a result, the two training programs are not interchangeable.

DHS has finalized changes to fees charged by SEVP to international students, exchange visitors and SEVP-certified schools. The new fees will take effect June 24, 2019.

Charged in the indictments were: Barath Kakireddy, 29, of Lake Mary; Suresh Kandala, 31, of Culpeper; Phanideep Karnati, 35, of Louisville, Kentucky; Prem Rampeesa, 26, of Charlotte, North Carolina; Santosh Sama, 28, of Fremont, California; Avinash Thakkallapally, 28, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Aswanth Nune, 26, of Atlanta, Georgia; and Naveen Prathipati, 26, of Dallas, Texas.

SEVP plans to publish calendar year 2018 data during the first quarter of 2019. Future years’ data will publish in the first quarter of the following year. This will enable the public to review yearly trends in the international student population.

Slight decrease from May 2017; Stark declines from Saudi Arabia, South Korea

On Friday, SEVP launched the SEVP Portal, which streamlines the SEVIS update process by enabling F-1 students participating in post-completion OPT and M-1 students participating in practical training to report personal and employer information directly to SEVP.

This updated educational tool allows users to create a customized guide with information on the international student life cycle specific to their visa type (F-1 or M-1) and education level. Each guide contains information about preparing to enter the United States, traveling, studying, student benefits, change of status and departing the United States.

Ying Huang, 23, a Chinese citizen, pleaded guilty Jan. 11 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania to one count of passport fraud, one count of mail fraud, and aiding and abetting.

Based on data extracted from SEVIS May 5, the international student population increased 2 percent compared to May 2016, with 76 percent of students enrolled in higher education programs of study.

Hee Sun Shim (also known as Leonard Shim and Leo Shim), 53, of Beverly Hills, the owner and manager of the schools, pleaded guilty Thursday morning to conspiracy and immigration document fraud.

The report, released Thursday by SEVP, highlights November 2016 data from the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), a web-based system that includes information about international students, exchange visitors and their dependents while they are in the United States.

Through the new notice, the DHS Secretary suspends certain regulatory requirements in order to allow eligible Syrian F-1 students to obtain employment authorization, work an increased number of hours during the school term, and, if necessary, reduce their course load while continuing to maintain their F-1 student status.