What is the SEVIS Fee?
This SEVIS fee is required of all foreign nationals who come to the United States for the purpose of pursuing a full course of study in institutions such as colleges, universities, and language training programs. It is payable one time for each single educational program in which an F-1 or F-3 student participates, extending from the time the student is granted F-1 or F-3 status to the time the student falls out of status, changes status, or departs the U.S. for an extended period of time. This fee is new and goes into effect September 1, 2004. SEVIS fee payments will be used by the United States Department of Homeland Security to fund the Student and Exchange Visitor Program. This program makes it possible for international students and exchange visitors to attend schools in the United States. The fee also funds the Student Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), a computer system employed to track international students and exchange visitors during their stays in the United Stat
The U.S. Government has a system known as SEVIS (the Student Exchange Visitor Information System). This system keeps track of foreign students from the moment that a school issues the I-20 form. The administrative computers at our school are connected to the U.S. SEVIS system by internet. For the past several years, the I-20 forms issued by schools in the U.S. have been produced by using this system. When the SEVIS system was created, the law required that the system be paid for by a fee to be charged to students and certain exchange visitors. However, there have been delays in implementing this fee. The fee requirement will go into effect as of September 01, 2004: the SEVIS fee will be required of all foreign nationals who come to the United States for the purpose of pursuing a full course of study at our school.
SEVIS, the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, is the U.S. government’s tracking system that allows various U.S. agencies (overseas U.S. Consulates, border patrol agents at the U.S. borders and airports, the Department of Homeland Security, and others) to see up-to-date information about international students and scholars in F, J, and M visa status, their academic activities, and their accompanying family members. On July 1, 2004, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published the Final Rule implementing collection of a $100 SEVIS fee to support this program. All F-1 and M-1 students and J-1 exchange visitors with initial documents issued on or after September 1, 2004 are subject to this fee. On October 27, 2008 the fee will increase to $180 for J-1 exchange visitors and to $200 for F-1 and M-1 students. In addition to the questions and answers on this page, more information about the SEVIS fee is available on the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement web site.
