Due to heightened concerns related to the admission of foreign students to the U.S., the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced recently that all students entering the U.S. on a student visa will automatically be sent to secondary inspection for a Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) official to verify their student status in SEVIS before being admitted to the U.S. This is to ensure the student’s SEVIS record (I-20 or DS-2019) is in active status prior to admitting the student to the U.S.

What this means for you:

All individuals arriving to the U.S. with a SEVIS record should prepare for possible long delays at the inspection point and consider this when scheduling connecting flights. Students and scholars returning to the U.S. should be certain to carry their passport and I-20 or DS-2019 with them on the plane. Carrying unofficial transcripts, admission letters, letters of invitation, or other evidence demonstrating intent to enroll full-time in classes or return to resume full-time classes is recommended to minimize delays.

If students have ever had a terminated SEVIS record, they should be sure to have documentation with them to identify the circumstances of the previous termination and evidence of intent to enroll full-time in classes.

The Department of Homeland Security communicated that this change is temporary until Customs and Border Patrol officials at the primary point of inspection make changes to their verification process to check a student’s status. However, little information has been published by DHS or CBP. OIE will continue to update information as new details become available.

Please find more information at NAFSA's website on Status Verification at Ports of Entry or from Ware Gasparian’s Breaking News website.