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Is SEVIS Likely to Cause Problems For Foreign Students? 41

Posted by Cliff from the knee-jerk-reactions-or-valid-precaution dept.
Unne asks: "I just received notice from the foreign student department of my school (City College of New York) advising me to not leave the country anytime soon, or, if traveling is absolutely necessary, to return before the end of the year. It appears that a new system is being deployed called SEVIS, the Student Exchange and Visitor Information System, which requires 43 separate pieces about me if I am to be verified thru this system. I did a Slashdot-search for SEVIS but came up with nothing. I'd love to hear some opinions from people who are familiar with the program or perhaps took part in its development. What are those 43 items of information. What type of computer systems do they use? Is the information exchange between INS and the schools really handled via the web, and how does that affect privacy and personal integrity?"

"Here is what the notice says:

TRAVEL ADVISORY FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS - WINTER 2002

The Immigration Service is implementing a new record-keeping system for international students in the United States called SEVIS (Student and Exchange Visitor Information System). The implementation of the SEVIS program is likely to cause extreme difficulties for students who wish to travel and re-enter the United States for the foreseeable future. This is how the SEVIS system is supposed to work and some of the complications that we anticipate may arise:

  • By November 15th, 2002 all schools in the US authorized to admit international students must apply for re-certification in order to continue to be eligible to admit international students.
  • It is uncertain how long it will take INS to re-certify schools applying for re-certification.
  • When a school becomes re-certified, all I-20's must be issued under the new SEVIS system. That means the school must transmit, electronically, forty-three (43) items of information about the student to the INS' SEVIS website.
  • When that information is received by INS, it will be reviewed and Immigration will electronically send an approval notice to the school to allow the school to allow the school to download a SEVIS I-20 for the student. It is uncertain how long the approval process will take - it could be hours, days or weeks.
  • The school will download the new SEVIS I-20 and give it to the student.

POSSIBLE COMPLICATIONS

  • In many cases, the International Student Office may have incomplete data on the students requesting I-20's. That means we must obtain the missing data before proceeding with the process.
  • Within the near future, thousands of schools in the US will be submitting information on tens of thousands of students requesting I-20's to the SEVIS website. This system has been tested in only a very limited fashion. No-one can predict how well it will work in reality.
  • The new system comes into effect on January 30th, 2003. However, if a school is re-certified before that date it is not clear whether existing I-20 forms will be honored or whether the student must use a SEVIS I-20 to enter the country even if entering the US before January 30th, 2003.
  • After re-certification, students transferring to a SEVIS-approved school will be unable to receive an I-20 from their new school until their previous school certifies that the student is maintaining lawful student status and is eligible for school transfer.
  • The best advice we can offer at the moment is: If it is not absolutely vital that you travel, it will be safer and much less complicated if you avoid leaving the country at this time. If you must travel, it will be better if you can return before the end of this year."
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Is SEVIS Likely to Cause Problems For Foreign Students? More

Is SEVIS Likely to Cause Problems For Foreign Students?

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  • Why search on Slashdot? (Score:3, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 27, 2002 @02:59PM (#4769264)
    Google is full of information [educause.edu]. It's brand new, so I doubt many people have experience with it.

  • 43 pieces of information: (Score:5, Funny)

    by immanis ( 557955 ) <immanis.sfgoth@com> on Wednesday November 27, 2002 @03:16PM (#4769406) Homepage Journal
    1. Name:
    2. Date of birth:
    3. Time of birth:
    4. Place of birth:
    5. Birth weight:
    6. Sex:
    7. Sex at birth:
    8. Nationality:
    9. Ethnicity:
    10. SSN:
    11. Mother's maiden name:
    12. Father's maiden name:
    13. Mother's Father's maiden name:
    14. Your maiden name:
    15. Current address:
    16. Previous address:
    17. Current occupation:
    18. Previous occupation:
    19. Desired occupation:
    20. Are you a terrorist:
    21. Do you read 2600:
    22. Do you read slashdot:
    23. Are you sure you're not a terrorist:
    24. Place your thumb here:
    25. Pee in this cup:
    26. You may feel a slight prick:
    27. Turn your head and cough:
    28. Are you quite sure you're not a terrorist:
    29. What are you currently studying:
    30. Current GPA:
    31. Highest level of education completed:
    32. If you are in a car with a helium balloon, and you accelerate, what happens to the balloon:
    33. Are you a god:
    34. When will you stop being a terrorist:
    35. Boxers or briefs:
    36. Do you know any terrorists:
    37. Do you know the Muffin Man:
    38. Do you know the CowboyNeil:
    39. What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow:
    40. Are you carrying any hazardous materials:
    41. Are you carrying any illegal items:
    42. Who is Keyser Soze:
    43. Are you absolutely positive you are a terrosit:

    • Re:43 pieces of information: (Score:4, Funny)

      by Dannon ( 142147 ) on Wednesday November 27, 2002 @04:16PM (#4769864) Journal
      Name: Dannon
      Date of birth: It was on my birthday.
      Time of birth: Don't remember.
      Place of birth: The hospital.
      Birth weight: I've gained a few pounds since then.
      Sex: I'm waiting for marriage.
      Sex at birth: What are you, some kind of sicko?
      Current address: Here
      Previous address: There
      Current occupation: Answerer of 43 questions
      Previous occupation: Reader of /.
      Desired occupation: Multimillionaire
      Are you a terrorist: No.
      Do you read 2600: Nope.
      Do you read slashdot: Just for the articles!
      Are you sure you're not a terrorist: Not last I checked.
      Are you quite sure you're not a terrorist: I'm rather certain.
      What are you currently studying: Goofing Off 102
      Current GPA: 5.0
      Highest level of education completed: Goofing Off 101
      If you are in a car with a helium balloon, and you accelerate, what happens to the balloon: It stays a balloon.
      Are you a god: I'd never tell Gozer otherwise.
      When will you stop being a terrorist: When did I start being a terrorist?
      Boxers or briefs: Pajamas.
      Do you know any terrorists: If I meet any, I'll let you know.
      Do you know the Muffin Man: The one that lives on Dury Lane?
      Do you know the CowboyNeil: Not personally, but I've voted for him.
      What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow: African, or European?
      Are you carrying any hazardous materials: Well, I had Taco Bell for lunch.
      Are you carrying any illegal items: Just this One Ring.
      Who is Keyser Soze: Watch the movie yourself, I'm not going to spoil it for you.
      Are you absolutely positive you are a terrosit: I'd think I'd know if I was a terrorist. I'm not.
    • I have a lot of friends who are international students, & those questions are pretty indicative of how closely INS is watching/controlling them.

      If you're an international student, you practically have to fill out a form and send it to INS just to take a shit, and God Save You if it takes longer than 5 minutes to finish your 'business'.

      My school has had a 15% drop in the number of international students over the past year from acts like SEVIS.

  • I did a Slashdot-search for SEVIS but came up with nothing. I'd love to hear some opinions from people who are familiar with the program or perhaps took part in its development.

    A "Slashdot-search"? What is it with all these people thinking Slashdot is some sort of authoritative source of news about anything other than the occasional kernel patch?

    If you have a question about contracts, ask a contract lawyer. If you have a question about immigration, contact an immigration lawyer, or the INS themselves. Slashdot is the "peanut gallery" - sometimes well meaning, sometimes sarcastic, generally uninformed about much of anything but happy to comment on it anyway.

  • 43? (Score:2)

    by Skyfire ( 43587 )
    43? Wouldn't 42 be more appropriate?

  • The SEVIS Project (Score:5, Informative)

    by graphicartist82 ( 462767 ) on Wednesday November 27, 2002 @04:26PM (#4769924)
    I'm a programmer working for a (relatively) small university. We are busting our asses trying to get our systems compliant with SEVIS by the deadline of Jan. 30, 2003 or we lose the ability to have international students at our school.

    The 43 pieces of information range from the usual stuff (last name, first name, middle, birth date, etc) to rather personal stuff like: personal funds (how much money you have in the bank), living costs, dependent costs, how much money you make at your job, driver's license number, etc etc..

    The question is: "Is SEVIS likely to Cause Problems For Foreign Students?" Here's your answer: YES: SEVIS will cause you problems! Basically, the word from the INS is that reinstatement is not an option. So, if you are an international student, and for any reason you go out of staus, you're screwed..

    As far as the computer systems the INS uses to house this information: nobody knows. We submit the information to the INS via a HTTPS post and the data is in XML format.. (I do know that the web server we submit data to is running IIS...)

    Recently, I attended a conference and there was a presentation on SEVIS. The presenter said "If I was an international student, I wouldn't want to go to school in the US. I'd go somewhere else..."!!!

    I am very much against this project. I don't think it will solve anything. It's just another knee-jerk reaction from scared government officials wanting another X amount of years in Washington for being a part of <sarcasm> a system that will end all terrorism by tracking every piece of information about students.. Yeah, that will stop terrorism! </sarcasm>

    We (read: all ~7000 universities that are REQUIRED to participate) were all hoping at the beginning that this would be some fad and it would just go away once the INS discovered that it is not practical.. But that hasn't happened yet, and we are less than 2 months away from the "do or die" compliance date... This is very much a reality folks.
    • Sorry for replying to myself, but I forgot 1 very important piece of information the article poster should know..

      Your school has most likely already re-submitted their I-17 (basically the form that makes a school able to have international students). After that, a contracted individual (read: private investigator who knows nothing about the workings of the INS) will come to your school and do a site-survey (basically check to see if documents can be produced on demand). Then that individual will submit a report to the INS. After the INS reviews the report and approves the I-17, your university can no longer submit I-20's in any other way than via the SEVIS system!!

      So if you don't like this information, you have until your school gets approved to find a school in another country... because everywhere in the US has to do things the exact same way...
    • We are busting our asses trying to get our systems compliant (...)

      And there's still time to check out Slashdot. :-)

    • While the INS may not be implementing this in the best way, the U.S. government has a legitimate interest in getting information from visa applicants and keeping track of foreign nationals who are residing in the United States. There are a lot of people who misuse or overstay their visa. In the past, the INS has been extremely lax about the enforcement of immigration law.

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