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Foreign-Student Tracking System Faces Hurdles
The January 2003 deadline set by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) for colleges and universities to implement the new system for tracking foreign students may be overly optimistic, observers say. The INS was heavily criticized for inefficiency after it was revealed that several of the hijackers involved in the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center had violated provisions of their student visas and should not have been in the United States. The INS developed the computerized tracking system to improve its ability to keep information on foreign students up to date.
The Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, known as Sevis, requires institutions to enter data on their foreign students into a national database, but it is unclear how the system will interact with institutions’ existing databases, how institutions will be certified as legitimate, and whether they will have adequate access to Sevis in order to work out technical glitches before the deadline.
Holders of student visas are allowed to be in the United States only as long as they are attending classes at authorized institutions, which include schools that provide skills training as well as traditional colleges and universities. In the past, the INS has not had a successful system for finding out whether student visa holders are actually attending class. In addition, initial investigations have shown that the INS list of authorized institutions includes many that are bogus or no longer in business, which means that the agency must recertify participating institutions.
Several major education associations and the inspector general of the U.S. Department of Justice have expressed doubt that the system can be functional by January. In a letter to the INS responding to a request for comments on the new system, NAFSA, an association representing individuals who work in the field of international education, objected to the fact that the INS set a reporting deadline before making sure the system is functional, saying that the deadline places “an obligation on institutions of higher education that is contrary to law and is impossible to fulfill.” In addition, NAFSA’s letter said, the INS “fails utterly to allow for the extremely likely possibility of occurrences beyond the schools’ control, ranging from glitches to massive system failure.”
Other associations, while more sanguine about the system’s potential, agree that many issues need to be addressed before it can be implemented. According to a survey conducted by the National Association of College and University Business Officers, while a majority of institutions that enroll fewer than a hundred foreign students said they will be ready by the proposed compliance date, 79 percent of institutions enrolling more than five hundred such students said they will not be ready. In July, the INS canceled plans to hold campus training seminars about the new system, saying that college officials should call in to a help desk, request a free videotape, or attend one of several regional training sessions.
Editor’s note: As this issue went to press, the INS announced that while institutions must begin entering foreign student data into the new system by January 30, they are not required to complete the process by that date.
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