Attention Schools: Two Important Reminders about DSO Submissions
July 28, 2015
The Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) wants to reiterate two important reminders about the process for adding new designated school officials (DSOs) to your school’s Form I-17, “Petition for Approval of School for Attendance by Nonimmigrant Student”:
- SEVP handles all DSO submission requests using the same adjudication process, regardless of whether the individual you wish to add has a pre-existing Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) login. This means that being a DSO at another SEVP-certified institution does not expedite the DSO submission or adjudication process.
- You must now submit all evidence (i.e., a complete DSO update package) to SEVP at the time of your petition update to add DSOs. If you do not, SEVP may deny your petition. SEVP recently announced this change to decrease processing time for updating information on your school’s Form I 17, which includes adding additional DSOs to your petition.
If you are a principal designated school official at an SEVP-certified school, it is your responsibility to make updates to DSO information in SEVIS, including adding new DSOs to the petition. Remember, SEVP recently updated its regulations and now allows schools the flexibility to nominate an appropriate number of DSOs based on your program’s specific needs. You are no longer limited to 10 DSOs per instructional site.
We recommend you review the newly updated SEVP Fact Sheet 1506-08 Designated School Official Submissions to ensure you properly submit your request. Reviewing this fact sheet and submitting all evidence at the time of your petition update will help SEVP process your request in a timely manner. Remember, this requirement does not apply to all updates, but only to all DSO additions.
Please help us reduce the processing time for all SEVP-certified programs by sharing this message with your fellow school officials on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.