SEVIS Deadline Today

What's SEVIS? It's the Student Exchange and Information System, revived by Congress shortly after the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. The system was to be up and running at the start of this year, but software glitches led to delays.

By today, 8/1/03, all high schools and universities with international students were to have entered the names and other identifying information of those students in SEVIS. According to CNN, nearly 6,000 schools have complied, but 600 have yet to file information or filed it too late to meet the deadline. Fortunately, CNN reports that legitimate students who are not yet registered in SEVIS "will be able to verify their status with Homeland Security Department staff stationed at major airports." Specifically, this memo from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to SEVIS users explains the procedures used for admitting international students on and after the SEVIS deadline of August 1, 2003.

More on SEVIS, from About Immigration Issues

More on Studying in the US.