International students may have difficulty getting errors in federal tracking records corrected, according to a Government Accountability Office report released Thursday.
The Student and Exchange Visitor Information System is a detailed compilation of the travel plans and academic and criminal records of international students studying in the United States.
SEVIS has been found to contain minor errors, and continuing technical problems can potentially cause travel and enrollment difficulties for foreign students, according to the GAO study.
Though the report cited progress in the usability of SEVIS's Help Desk support since a June 2004 report, some students still experience difficulties.
The GAO report was issued in connection with a Congressional hearing request regarding SEVIS.
An Institute for International Education report, released last November, cited a decrease in the number of international students studying in the United States during the 2003-2004 academic year.
The GAO report attributes the decline, to changing visa policies and "increased global competition," not SEVIS difficulties.
SEVIS staff was increased in 2003 to improve Help Desk accessibility, and requests for data error corrections have decreased since 2003.
The SEVIS records are maintained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is a division of the Department of Homeland Security. The records can be supplemented by information from the students' sponsor programs.
At the University ISIS is used to communicate information to the SEVIS server, according to second-year international College student, Maha Kausar.
Some University students have experienced difficulties traveling between the University and their home countries that they said may be related to SEVIS inadequacies.
Second-year College student, Sasha Minesuk, who is from Thailand, said she was stopped at Baltimore/Washington International airport by U.S. customs agents, who inspected her identification and travel documents.
"They wouldn't tell us what was going on, but they let us go," Minesuk said.
She said she thought there seemed to be a conflict between government records and her documentation, but the customs agents never said why she -- among other Asian travelers -- was stopped.
Despite some difficulty, some other students said they have not experienced SEVIS troubles.
"I've never had any of those problems," Kausar said.
Rebecca Brown, the director of the International Studies Office, could not be reached for comment.
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