Proposed Rule On SEVIS Fees And Recertification

On April 21, 2008, DHS published a proposed rule that would raise the SEVIS I-901 fee, set standards for recertification of F-1 and M-1 schools, and modify schools' record-keeping and reporting requirements. The rule proposes an October 1, 2008 effective date. The public comment period on the proposed rule ended June 20, 2008.

Read NAFSA's comment letter.

August 21, 2008
DHS submitted the final SEVIS fee/school recertification rule to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on August 19, 2008. This places the rule in the final stages of review before being cleared for publication in the Federal Register. The proposed rule aimed for an effective date of October 1, 2008. To achieve that, OMB would have to complete its review rather quickly.

SEVIS I-901 Fees

IIRIRA § 641(g)(2) allows DHS to “on a periodic basis, revise the amount of the fee ... in order to take into account changes in the cost of carrying out the program.” The proposed rule would:

• Raise the SEVIS I-901 fee for F-1, M-1, and J-1 nonimmigrants
• Raise the fee for initial SEVIS school certification for F/M schools
• Schools would not have to pay a fee for recertification. The proposed rule's supplementary information [p. 21266] states that "The cost of recertification is incorporated in the I–901 SEVIS fee."

Item	Current	Proposed
I-901 F/M Students	$ 100	$ 200
I-901 J-1 Exchange Visitors	$ 100	$ 180
I-901  J-1 Au Pairs, Camp Counselors,  Summer Work Study	$ 35	$ 35
I-901 J-1 Federally sponsored exchange visitor program (program code starts with G-1, G-2, or G-3)	$ 0	$ 0
F or M School Initial Certification	$ 230	$ 1700
Initial Certification Site Visits	$ 350	$ 655
Recertification	$ 0	$ 0

Recertification

• Specify basic requirements for applying for F or M certification and recertification

School Recordkeeping and Reporting

• Alter the list of records a school is required to keep on individual students
• Specify I-17 upkeep requirements