SEVIS 2009 New Initiatives
Fiscal Year 2009 promises to be an exciting year for the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), and for the schools and students SEVP supports. SEVP will be taking on new initiatives as well as refining its current programs.
One new initiative is the SEVP Response Center (SRC). The SRC will answer calls from schools, students and the general public. It will assist callers with general questions pertaining to SEVP. Three highly trained staff members will be available to answer calls Monday through Friday, from 8:
In keeping with the tradition of excellent customer service, SEVP will continue to develop new regulations to aid schools and students in achieving their goals. SEVP is in the process of drafting three major regulatory updates to be published in 2009. The first, a significant rewrite of 8 CFR 214.2, 8 CFR 214.3, and 8 CFR 214.4, will incorporate and refine policies and procedures that have evolved since the last recertification update and since the inception of SEVP. The rewrite also removes obsolete language and incorporates transitional language to support that transition to SEVIS II.
The second rule addresses flight schools that are currently certified by both SEVP and the Department of State (DoS). This rule gives schools the ability to offer extended flight education programs for non-immigrants. In June 2008, DoS chose to eliminate its designation of eight flight training programs in June 2010, following an internal review which concluded that the programs no longer met DoS public diplomacy criteria, a core requirement for exchange visitor programs. Through the new rule, SEVP will help ensure that the government’s reorganization efforts do not have a negative impact on the flight schools or their students.
