Recent Congressional subcommittee hearings have brought to light the possibility that an indeterminate number of foreign students could be unable to enter U.S. schools next fall because of delays in the activation of a foreign student tracking system.
Congress passed the U.S.A. Patriot Act in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, requiring all foreign students studying in the United States to be registered in a database referred to as the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System.
Immigration and Naturalization Services officials set Jan. 30 as the date when the tracking system must include key information about new foreign students.
Foreign students applying to universities which have not implemented the database by the deadline might be denied visas, said Paul Hassen, a spokesman for the American Council on Education.
At the two congressional hearings, one before the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Claims on Sept. 18 and the other before the House subcommittees on 21st Century Competitiveness and Select Education on Wednesday, testifiers voiced concerns over the ability of the INS to complete the tracking system.
"INS was taking all the heat in the hearing, and rightfully so," said Richard Tanson, the University's international studies student advisor.
Glenn Fine, Department of Justice inspector general, and top officials with the American Council on Education, a lobbying group for universities, said at the hearing that U.S. schools and INS probably would not meet this deadline.
"Despite the substantial efforts made by the INS, we continue to believe that full implementation of SEVIS is unlikely by Jan. 30, 2003, based on the amount of work that remains to be accomplished," Fine said.
INS is in the process of re-certifying 70,000 schools eligible for foreign student visas, and this probably will not be complete before the January deadline, Fine said.
INS officials, however, disagree.
"We believe we are on track to disprove the Inspector General's finding," said Janis Sposato, INS assistant deputy executive associate commissioner, at the hearing.
The INS only recently released software specifications for the system, meaning universities have not yet acquired the necessary technology and school administrators have not yet been trained, Hassen said, reiterating complaints that ACE officials made at the hearings.
ACE asked for the Jan. 30 date to be pushed back by several months, Hassen said.
But Sposato said at the hearing that the INS has been communicating with schools about the technical requirements of the system over the past year.
"In 2001 and 2002, INS sponsored SEVIS technical conferences for vendors, designated school officials, school representatives and the public," Sposato said.
While the January deadline applies to new students, all existing foreign students must be entered into the system by next September, Hassen said.
If schools haven't set up the database by this time and the INS does not issue some kind of reprieve, foreign students will be unable to enter the country.
"If the data's not there, there's no other way for a consulate official to issue a visa," Hassen said.
Read More
Will Ryan’s resignation impact the University’s reaccreditation?
By Leigh Bailey | 5 hours agoDr. Janea Johnson, public relations and data specialist at SACSCOC, said in a written statement to The Cavalier Daily July 28 that “a change in leadership does not automatically become a compliance concern.”
United Healthcare takes over as student health insurance provider
By Lauren Seeliger | 10 hours agoAll University students are required to be medically insured, but the University student plan is only required for students who do not have other, valid health insurance.
University community leaders gather at the Rotunda to speak about interim President Mahoney
By Xander Tilock | 15 hours agoEach speaker addressed concerns over a lack of input from students, faculty, staff and community members in the circumstances which led to former University President Jim Ryan’s resignation and the decision-making process since then.
