All schools in the United States that admit F and J international students are required to use the SEVIS database to issue Certificates of Eligibility (I-20s and DS-2019s) for your immigration status. The SEVIS database is also used for ongoing reporting during your F or J status.
What is SEVIS?
SEVIS stands for the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System. It is a federal database operated by the Departments of Homeland Security and State.
SEVIS is used by school officials, mostly in ISSS, to maintain records about your F-1 or J-1 program of study in the United States. It is also accessible to government officials in the Departments of Homeland Security and State, and may be used in evaluating your applications for visas, entry to the United States, and immigration benefits while you are a student in the U.S.
What information is maintained in SEVIS?
SEVIS is the official database for maintaining required records about your studies in the U.S. The following information is reported in SEVIS for each student:
Biographic Information
We retain records of your biographic information, including your full legal name, date of birth, city of birth, and country of birth and citizenship (and permanent residence, if you are a J Exchange Visitor). The same information is required for each F-2 or J-2 dependent for whom an I-20 or DS-2019 is issued.
Contact Information
You are required to maintain a record of your physical, residential address with the Department of Homeland Security throughout your stay in the U.S. For F and J students, this requirement is fulfilled by reporting that information in SEVIS. At Portland State, the address you report in myPSU is automatically forwarded to your record in SEVIS, except during post-completion OPT or the STEM Extension for F-1 students, when you will need to submit these changes through WorldLink.
In addition to U.S. address information, we are required to report your permanent address in your home country, your phone number, and your email address. At Portland State, the email address reported in SEVIS is always the official university email address from the time that you create it until you graduate.
Enrollment Information
If you are an F-1 student, we must report each term:
- Whether or not you are enrolled;
- If you are enrolled full time or part time;
- If you are enrolled part time, whether we have authorized that part-time enrollment
Along with information about your enrollment status, we must report your current residential address and phone number and the start date and end date of the academic session, as well as the start date of the next academic session in which you are expected to enroll. We do not report your individual schedule or grades in SEVIS as part of this process.
If you are a J-1 student, we must report at the beginning of your Exchange Visitor program that you have enrolled in a full course of study. However, while ongoing enrollment is a requirement for maintaining J-1 status and is monitored by OISSS, we do not report that information in SEVIS each term.
Employment and Practical Training
If you are an F-1 student, we are required to report authorizations for Curricular Practical Training (CPT), as well as recommendations for Optional Practical Training (OPT), STEM Extensions, and off-campus employment, such as Economic Hardship or internships with certain international organizations. If you are a J-1 student, we are required to report authorizations for on- and off-campus employment and Academic Training.
Program of study
We are required to maintain records of your program of study, including the start date and end date of the program, whether or not you completed your program earlier than anticipated, and any required extensions for you to complete your program of study. Additionally, we must report your educational level and major, as well as any changes to that information throughout your studies.