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SEVIS Help Hub

Name Fields Job Aid

Name Fields Job Aid

Last updated: February 22, 2021

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Field Captures Standards
Surname/Primary Name
  • Surname/family name
  • From the passport/Primary identifier contained in the passport’s machine readable zone
Note: The only name for someone without another name.
  • Latin (Roman) alphabet
  • No hyphens
  • No apostrophes
  • No special characters
  • One space between names
  • No names of: LNU, Unknown, Not Applicable, or None
  • UNK and NA entries require confirmation that UNK or NA is the nonimmigrant’s name
  • 40-character limit
Given Name Any name components not included in Surname/Primary Name field
  • Latin (Roman) alphabet
  • No hyphens
  • No apostrophes
  • No special characters
  • One space between names
  • No names of: FNU, Unknown, Not Applicable, or None
  • UNK and NA entries require confirmation that UNK or NA is the nonimmigrant’s name
  • 80-character limit
Suffix
  • Personal suffix (i.e., Jr., Sr., III, etc.), if the individual has one
  • Does not include a professional or educational suffix (i.e., MD, PhD, SJ, etc.)
  • Latin (Roman) alphabet
  • Selected from drop-down list
Preferred Name
  • Nonimmigrant’s full name
  • Allows entry of the name used by the school if different from fields above
  • Examples:
    • Susan Zhang instead of Yibin Zhang
    • Hélène Müller-Garçon
  • Latin (Roman) alphabet
  • Hyphens allowed
  • Apostrophes allowed
  • One space between names
  • Comma and one space allowed before suffix
  • Period allowed in suffix
  • Also allowed: alphabetical characters with: ¨, ^, `, ´, °, ¸
  • 145-character limit
Passport Name Name exactly as it appears in the machine readable zone of the passport (Surname/Primary Name Given Name)
  • Latin (Roman) alphabet
  • No hyphens
  • N apostrophes
  • One space between names
  • 39-character limit

What's New

Chatbot

Try the Facebook Chatbot

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Summer Employment

Learn About Summer Employment

While employed this summer, make sure you have all the relevant information on maintaining your student status, and the steps you must take before returning to school. 

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Icon Guide

See the SEVIS Help Icons on the SEVIS Help Hub for a quick-reference of the icons used in this user guide.

I'm Looking For

Contact Us

Phone

SEVP Response Center

703-603-3400

Office

Monday - Friday 
8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. ET,
except holidays

Email

SEVP@ice.dhs.gov

Tipline

HSI Tip Line

1-877-4-HSI-TIP

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