Magazine, Immigration, ICE Update
International students studying in the U.S. must comply with a host of federal regulations to maintain their nonimmigrant status, including notifying their school’s designated school official within 10 days of any changes to their personal or employment information. From there, the student’s designated school official has to take this information and enter it into the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS).
“F-1 students who are engaged in post-completion OPT [optional practical training] are no longer enrolled students at universities, yet the reporting responsibilities require university employees to continue to provide a significant level of services to these non-students,” said Kristen Hagen, associate director of the Center for Global Engagement at Florida State University.
That is, until now.
On Friday, the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) launched the SEVP Portal, which streamlines the SEVIS update process by enabling F-1 students participating in post-completion optional practical training (OPT) and M-1 students participating in practical training to report personal and employer information directly to SEVP. Prior to the SEVP Portal, international students in these categories had to rely on their designated school official for this reporting. The portal allows these students to play an active role in ensuring SEVIS data integrity and their good standing with SEVP while also lessening the burden for school officials.
Through the portal, students can now:
- Add or edit their phone number.
- Add or edit their mailing and physical address.
- Add or edit their employer information.*
Read More About New portal allows international students to send updates to SEVIS
