School Officials: Understand SEVIS Alerts
March 4, 2015
Updating and maintaining student records in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) is an important part of your responsibilities as a designated school official (DSO). To help schools comply with their reporting requirements, SEVIS generates automatic alerts on students and dependents whose records require DSO attention.
Alerts usually indicate that, according to information in SEVIS, a student’s status will change (in many cases from “Active” to “Terminated” or “Completed”) if a DSO does not take some action or make an update. These alerts are helpful so please take the time to understand their intended purpose. Below are some of the most critical SEVIS alerts that require timely action by the DSO:
- Students in Initial Status with Port of Entry Records:
This alert pertains to new students who have entered the United States and whose enrollment should be reported by a DSO. All F-1 or M-1 students in Initial status must report to a DSO at the start of their program. DSOs are required to report students’ arrival within 30 days of the program start date. If arrival information has been transmitted and a DSO does not update SEVIS, the system will automatically terminate the student’s record with a reason of “No Show.” If arrival information is not available and a DSO does not update SEVIS, the system will automatically cancel the student’s record.
- Active Students Requiring Registration:
This alert pertains to continuing students that DSOs must report in order for those students to remain enrolled at the school. A DSO must register all returning F-1 and M-1 students who are in Active status within 30 days of the “Next Session Start Date.” If a DSO does not update SEVIS to reflect the continued enrollment, SEVIS will automatically terminate the student record with a reason of “Failure to Enroll.”
- Transfer-in Students Not Registered by Program Start Date:
This alert pertains to students who have transferred into the school, but for whom no registration has been reported by the student’s program start date. F-1 students that transfer to a new school must report to the DSO at their new school within 15 days of the “Program Start Date,” though they may report earlier. A DSO must update the student’s record in SEVIS to indicate whether or not the student arrived and enrolled in classes. If a DSO does not update SEVIS to reflect the student’s enrollment at the school, SEVIS will automatically terminate the student’s record with a reason of “Transfer Student No Show.”
- Students with Pending Change of Status:
This alert pertains to students who have filed a change of status request with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Upon USCIS’ approval of a nonimmigrant’s change of status to F-1 or M-1 status, the student must report to their school’s DSO. The DSO must update the initial SEVIS record to indicate whether or not the student arrived and enrolled in classes. If a DSO does not update SEVIS to reflect the student’s enrollment at the school, SEVIS will automatically terminate the student record. However, if the change of status is not yet approved by USCIS before the “Program Start Date,” a DSO must defer the program start date to the next available term. Failure to defer the program start date will prompt SEVIS to cancel the record.
The above notifications are not exhaustive of all the SEVIS alerts you may encounter as a DSO. For more information review the list of SEVIS reporting requirements for DSOs.
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