State Dept. Advises Posts of SEVIS Procedures
P 121904Z FEB 03
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO ALL DIPLOMATIC AND CONSULAR
POSTS PRIORITY
SPECIAL EMBASSY PROGRAM PRIORITY
AMEMBASSY KABUL PRIORITY
AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE PRIORITY
AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM PRIORITY
UNCLAS STATE
040362
VISAS, FOR CONSULS, ALSO FOR PAO'S
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: CVIS, KPAO
SUBJECT: FINAL SEVIS VERIFICATION AND
REPORTING
INSTRUCTIONS
REF: A) STATE 026911 AND PREVIOUS, B) 02 STATE 113328
1. Summary: Late the week of February 10, 2003, the first tranche of INS Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) production data will be made available on the Consolidated Consular Database (CCD) to posts worldwide. This cable contains specific instructions for searching for and reporting SEVIS data. Once consular sections receive these instructions and confirm the availability of SEVIS data on the CCD, users may opt to use SEVIS to verify all SEVIS-generated Forms I-20 and DS-2019. Department reminds posts that, for SEVIS-generated Forms I-20 and DS-2019 issued prior to the new SEVIS full implementation date of February 15, 2003, the Department's Interim Student and Exchange Authentication System (ISEAS) remains available as a verification mechanism. ISEAS should be searched before any case involving a pre-February 15 Form I-20 or DS-2019 is suspended under 221(g). For those documents created on or after February 15, 2003 SEVIS is the sole electronic verification system available to consular staff.
2. Per reftels, SEVIS is the permanent system that will record electronically all significant events in the U.S. "careers" of international students and exchange visitor program participants. Beginning with the new SEVIS full implementation date of February 15, 2003, all Forms I-20 issued by academic and vocational educational institutions, and all Forms DS-2019 issued by exchange visitor program sponsors, must be created within SEVIS.
See reftels for explicit instructions on the verification of Forms I-20 and DS-2019 issued prior to the SEVIS full implementation date (originally January 30, 2003, now February 15, 2003,) descriptions of SEVIS documents, and additional background information. End Summary.
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Consular Processing Isn't
Changing Overnight: the ISEAS to SEVIS
Transition
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3. Department points out that on February 15, SEVIS "full implementation" commences with Forms I-20 and DS-2019 prepared in the United States on and after that date and then forwarded to recipients around the globe. Given the usual exigencies of the student/exchange visitor visa application process, it is likely that weeks will pass before posts begin adjudicating significant numbers of F, M and J visa cases with Forms I-20 or DS-2019 issued on or after February 15. Over the short run, most of the F, M and J visa applicants will present Forms I-20 or DS-2019 issued by their sponsoring institutions or organizations prior to that date. In these cases, consular employees can continue to use ISEAS to verify those forms, whether they are older "paper" forms or SEVIS documents. ISEAS will remain available to consular sections after February 15, 2003 for this purpose.
4. Following a period of inter-agency data sharing and testing issues, SEVIS production data in workable form was pushed from INS to CA on January 28, 2003. By January 31, CA/EX/CSD contractors had completed the process of receiving, revising and loading these data into the CCD. This first tranche of usable SEVIS production data consisted of 203 files containing records on 90,920 individual F-1 and M-1 students, 4,606 F-2/M-2 dependents, 296 J-1 exchange visitors, and 153 J-2 dependents. Following receipt of those data and their posting to the Consolidated Consular Database, the Visa Office conducted Washington-based testing of the verification and reporting processes described below to ensure that the SEVIS verification system functions as intended.
5. SEVIS production data will be made available to posts worldwide late the week of February 10, 2003. As soon as posts receive these instructions and confirm the availability of SEVIS data on the CCD, users may opt to use SEVIS to verify all SEVIS-generated Forms I-20 and DS-2019. Department reminds posts that, for SEVIS-generated Forms I-20 and DS-2019 issued prior to the new SEVIS full implementation date of February 15, 2003, ISEAS remains available as a verification mechanism and should be searched before any case involving a pre-February 15 Form I-20 or DS-2019 is suspended under 221(g). For those documents created on or after the SEVIS full implementation date of February 15, 2003, SEVIS is the sole electronic verification system available to consular staff.
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SEVIS How-to
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6. Consular employees will access SEVIS data under the NIV tab in the CCD, available on the CA Intranet home page menu bar. Within CCD, click on the NIV tab, then select "SEVIS Lookup," which appears under the new "NIV Student Exchange Visa" bar. Selecting SEVIS Lookup will bring the user to the "SEVIS Lookup Report Parameter Form" page. From this page users will first select one of four records categories indicated by the I-20/DS-2019 form type presented by the visa applicant (F-1 or M-1 student, F-2 or M-2 student dependent, J-1 exchange visitor or J-2 exchange visitor dependent) and commence their search for SEVIS records. (Note: SEVIS Forms I-20 A-B and I-20 M-N differentiate between students and dependents with the annotation "Student's Copy" or "Dependent's Copy" located directly over the SEVIS ID number above the bar code. SEVIS Forms DS-2019 bear the designation "J-1" or "J-2 Dependent" directly below the SEVIS ID number, also above the bar code. End note.) Department recommends launching record searches by entering the SEVIS ID number, which is the most case-specific search parameter. Users may elect to search for records using the applicant's surname, School/Program name or School code/Program number, or a combination of these search criteria.
7. Search parameters: Users are advised that SEVIS queries will run against a
large database. As stated above, the SEVIS ID number - an eleven character
alphanumeric code beginning with the letter "N", and located over the barcode on
the Form I-20/DS-2019 - is the recommended and most case-specific search
parameter. When users opt to use the SEVIS ID number as the search parameter,
remaining parameter fields need not be filled out. (Note: a single SEVIS ID
number may be associated with more than one entry; every time an individual file
is updated, a new entry will be created in SEVIS. All entries under a specific
SEVIS ID number should refer to the same individual. Users will need to be aware
of which of the files are current. End note.) When searching by date of birth or
country code, users must enter a full or partial surname. Users are
instructed to enter the date of birth by specifying day, month, and year in
the three separate fields provided. Users must enter the day of birth as a two
digit number (01 or 23), the month using the three character abbreviation
(JAN, FEB, etc.), and the complete four-digit year. Partial dates of birth
can be entered by omitting one or two of the date fields. When specifying a
given name, users MUST enter a surname. When conducting a search
using
criteria other than the SEVIS ID number, users must specify enough
parameters to narrow the search. Inadequately narrowed queries would potentially
return very large files; therefore they will be rejected.
8. While the SEVIS record contains more information fields than an ISEAS
record, users must verify only the following fields:
- school code/program
number,
- school/program name,
- surname and first/given name,
- date
and country of birth,
- nationality/citizenship.
Users are reminded that F-2, M-2 and J-2 dependents receive individually issued SEVIS documents. Users also will note that fields including education level, major, second major, minor, and nationality are filled in with code numbers or are perhaps blank. Department notes that in many of these early SEVIS records, the School Official Name appears as "INTERNAL INTERNAL," with no official title listed. We don't know yet the reason for this, but posts should not/not suspend visa processing if this is encountered. Department will provide guidance on these data field issues, as well as an explanation of the SEVIS status codes (initial, active, cancelled and terminated) via future septel(s).
9. Unlike an ISEAS verification, users will not click on a box to "verify" the record. Rather, users must copy the SEVIS ID number from the SEVIS record into the appropriate NIV 4.01 reporting field in order to record and report SEVIS verification. Secondly, until instructed otherwise, whenever an F, J, or M visa is printed the SEVIS ID number must be entered beginning as the first characters on the first line of the MRV annotation field followed by a space. After that space the balance of the visa annotation can be entered. This annotation policy must be followed strictly in order to allow for recognition of the SEVIS ID number at INS ports of entry until information system upgrades permit INS inspectors to acquire the SEVIS ID number electronically. Adherence to the NIV 4.01 data entry requirements described above does not/not relieve posts from this separate visa annotation requirement. Septel will advise the field when entry of the SEVIS ID number in the MRV annotation field is no longer required.
10.Another significant difference between ISEAS and SEVIS is that there is no workaround procedure for cases in which an applicant presents a SEVIS I-20 or DS-2019, issued on or after February 15, 2003, and for which there is no corresponding SEVIS record. In such cases the visa application must be suspended under INA 221(g) and the applicant advised to contact his or her school/program regarding the need for a SEVIS entry. (For SEVIS Forms I-20 and DS-2019 issued prior to that date, users can use ISEAS as a verification tool.) Department will provide regular updates as our responses to this and other issues are developed.
l1.To sum up, here is a step-by-step SEVIS verification and reporting
guide:
- Prospective student or exchange visitor tenders SEVIS-generated Form
I-20 or DS-2019.
- User accesses CA Intranet web page, selects the CCD and
clicks on the NIV tab.
- User selects "SEVIS Lookup," which appears under the
new "NIV Student Exchange Visa" bar.
- User uses the "SEVIS Lookup Report
Parameter Form" page to conduct SEVIS record check on the basis of the document
type presented by the applicant, SEVIS ID number (recommended), surname, school
code/program number, school/program name, etc.
- Visa issued provided the
applicant is otherwise eligible; SEVIS ID number entered as first characters of
the first line of the MRV annotation field,
followed by a space and the
balance of the visa annotation.
- Once NIV 4.01 loaded at post, SEVIS ID
number entered in the dedicated data entry field.
12.Department expects start-up difficulties as this massive effort is launched by the INS and SEVIS data is pushed around the world, and thanks posts in advance for their support during the transition to SEVIS verification and issuance procedures. The visa office is committed to the highest possible level of service and wants to hear from posts as we gain experience with SEVIS.
POWELL