Fee Increases for Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP)
Posted by Jeff Xie on September 24, 2008 at 23:44:38
WASHINGTON – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) today published a final rule establishing a new fee structure for certain schools and international students and exchange visitors within the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP). This final rule will adjust the SEVP school certification petition fees and the SEVIS I-901 fees for foreign citizens seeking to become academic or vocational students, or exchange visitors. This increase, which is the first of its kind since the inception of the program,will significantly enhance SEVP operations and establish procedures for the oversight and recertification of
participating schools. “U.S. colleges and universities attract hundreds of thousands of individuals from overseas every year,” said Julie L. Myers Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for ICE. “Validating the identity of foreign
students, verifying their intentions for entering our country, and knowing where they are while they are here is critically important to the security of our country. The SEVP fee rule ensures that America remains a welcoming place for foreign students to study, while enhancing our abilities to protect our national security.” Fee changes made in the SEVP rule will affect both students and schools and include: $1,700 for a school
certification petition; $655 for each site visit for certification; $200 for each F or M student; and $180 fee for certain J exchange visitors. Schools currently participating in SEVP will not be required to pay additional fees to recertify under this new fee structure. The return from the new fees will fund the creation of a new database used to track visiting students, improve interactive features for school administrators, and dramatically reduce on user errors All fee payments addressed in SEVP final rule must be made in the amounts established by this rule. ICE
first announced the new fee structure in April to a group of post-secondary education stakeholders and their respective national associations as well as through publication in the Federal Register inviting public comment on this proposed rulemaking. SEVP does not receive any federal appropriated funds. The program is obligated to increase its fees to comply with regulatory requirements and periodically review its fee structure to ensure its’ costs are fully covered; and to enhance its capability to improve national security and counter immigration fraud. More information can be found at www.ICE.gov.
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