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What Happens if a PDSO Does Not Complete the SEVIS Annual Verification?


February 4, 2016

Principal designated school officials (PDSO) have until March 2 to complete their annual SEVIS verification. The annual verification process is complete when a PDSO verifies that all school officials at their Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP)-certified school or program need continued access to SEVIS.

As of Feb. 1, 2016, 85 percent of all Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) users have been verified.

If PDSOs do not complete annual verification by the deadline, every school official at every campus associated with their SEVP-certified school or program will be locked out of the system on March 3 and will remain so until the verification process is complete.

This means designated school officials (DSO) will lose all access to the system and the PDSO’s access will be limited to the SEVIS verification function.

Additionally, after March 2 all unverified SEVP-certified schools will be officially out of compliance with federal record keeping and recording regulations, which jeopardizes its certification status. 

To help PDSOs comply with this regulation, SEVIS sends users periodic reminders at unverified institutions about the annual verification process.

For more information about the annual verification process, check out the guide to PDSO/DSO annual verification and the demonstration of the annual verification function on the SEVIS Help Hub. You may also direct specific questions about SEVIS verification of PDSOs and DSOs to SEVISTechnicalFeedback@ice.dhs.gov.

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