Principal designated school officials (PDSOs) who need to make updates to their school’s locked Form I-17, “Petition for Approval of School of Attendance by Nonimmigrant Student,” must submit the update requests to the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) via email.

Specifically, if you need to submit a PDSO or designated school official (DSO) update request while your school’s petition is locked in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), send an email to FormI17SupportingEvidence@ice.dhs.gov with your school’s name and SEVIS school code in the subject line.

Your email should include an attached letter signed by the current PDSO or by the head of school, if the current PDSO is unavailable. The letter should be on your school’s official letterhead and should include the following information about all new PDSOs or DSOs:

• Name.
• Position title.
• School address.
• School code.
• Work address.
• Office telephone number.
• Email address.
• Existing SEVIS user name, if known.
• Reason the current PDSO is unable to submit the update in SEVIS.
• Role assignment (PDSO or DSO) for each campus the school official will serve, including campus address.

If you are assigning a new PDSO, add information about whether the outgoing PDSO will be removed from the Form I-17 or reassigned as a DSO. Once you have included all information, you will also need to gather and submit supporting evidence with your update request.

For easy reference to the PDSO and DSO update process and for more information about what supporting evidence you must include, download and print the DSO Update Process Fact Sheet.

Do you have a question for SEVP? Ask us on social media using the hashtag #StudyintheStates.