WHAT IS THE STUDENT AND EXCHANGE VISITOR PROGRAM (SEVP)?
The Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), a program within the U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), is a part of the National Security
Investigations Division and acts as a bridge for government organizations that have
an interest in information on nonimmigrants whose primary reason for coming to
the United States is to be students.
On behalf of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), SEVP manages schools,
nonimmigrant students in the F & M visa classifications and their dependents.
The Department of State manages Exchange Visitor Programs, nonimmigrant
exchange visitors in the J visa classification and their dependents. Both SEVP and
the Department of State use the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System
(SEVIS) to track and monitor schools; exchange visitor programs; and F, M and J
nonimmigrants while they visit the United States and participate in the U.S.
education system.
WHAT IS THE STUDENT AND EXCHANGE VISITOR INFORMATION SYSTEM
(SEVIS)?
SEVIS is the web-based system that DHS uses to maintain information on
SEVP-certified schools and the F & M students who come to the United States to
attend those schools. SEVIS also maintains information on Department of
State-designated exchange visitor program sponsors and J-1 visa exchange visitor
program participants. It is a critical tool in SEVP’s mission to protect national
security while supporting the legal entry of the more than one million F, M and J
nonimmigrants to the United States for education and cultural exchange.
DEFINITIONS
• Nonimmigrants – Person entering the United States to visit, study or work (depending on the type of visa) temporarily but not to stay permanently in the United States.
• F-1 nonimmigrant students – Nonimmigrant status conferred on a student pursuing a full program of study in a college, university, seminary, conservatory, academic high school, private elementary school, other academic school or language training program in the United States that is SEVP-certified to enroll F and/or M students.
• M-1 nonimmigrant students – Nonimmigrant status conferred on a foreign national pursuing a full program of study at an SEVP-certified vocational school or other recognized non-academic school (other than in language training programs).
• J-1 exchange visitors – Foreign national selected by a Department of State-designated program to participate in an exchange visitor program.
• STEM – Science, technology, engineering and mathematics programs of study.
STUDENTS AND EXCHANGE VISITORS
• There are currently 966,333 F & M students studying in the United States.
• There are currently 232,988 J-1 exchange visitors in the United States.
• Twenty-eight percent of all F & M students in the United States originate from China.
• Seventy-five percent of all F & M students in the United States are from Asia.
• When compared to July 2013, the number of active F & M students and exchange visitors increased eight percent to 87,370.
