Photo by Emily Kinsolving

On October 27th the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) doubled the fees for the controversial Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), which monitors international students attending virtually any U.S. educational institution.  Last year the fee cost students as much as $100 each.

The increase will finance improvement and expansion of the program that surfaced in the aftermath of 9/11 to allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers to more closely track students' activities before they leave their home country, while they are in transit, during their U.S. stay, and even after they return home.  The DHS will hire more enforcement officers, oversee the recertification of more schools, and develop an improved system called SEVIS II.

Omer Al Mulhem, a student from Saudia Arabia, said he thought paying for the fee was ironic.  "It doesn't make sense to me," he said. "I have to pay for them to track me?"

Using the SEVIS database, ICE can rapidly obtain detailed personal information on international students with F, J, and M non-immigrant visas.  The DHS, however, states the program's main purpose is to "centralize" information collected on foreign students. Previously, beginning in the 1940s, campus advisors recorded and kept the information on paper.

The University of Texas enrolled more than 4,500 international students last year, comprising nearly 10% of the overall student population.  Texas ranks third in the nation, second to California, for the number of international students enrolled in higher education.  As of September 2008, more than 770,000 international students were under surveillance nationally — generating an estimated $154 million in fees.   The data for every one of these individuals and their dependents must be entered into the system.  Moreover, federal laws require their advisors to update the system every time a student changes his/her major, school, employment, address, or adds/drops a course. 

ICE is also notified when a student drops out, fails to show up to class, or leaves the country without permission.  The student, having violated visa laws, is then subject to deportation, regardless of circumstance.  If a student can no longer afford school, drops out, or must leave the country for business or family purposes, he or she can be deported without appeal.

These strict measures stemmed from a serious error following 9/11.  Just before the attacks, two of the terrorists involved in the hijacking applied to change their student visas.  Both applications were approved half a year after their deaths, exposing a lack of oversight in national security.  

Teri Albrecht, director of International Student and Scholar Services at UT, explained the complexity of her position. 

"After 9/11, when SEVIS first began, we wanted to make sure we created a welcoming environment for international students," Albrecht said. "We wanted to make sure students felt comfortable talking to us and didn't think we were just another branch of ICE. But we are required by federal law to update this system and comply with SEVIS requirements.  It's a difficult situation to be in."

However, unlike many other institutions, over the past four years, the University of Texas has fully reimbursed students for the fee. 

Responding to the first federally implemented fee in 2004, then President Larry Faulkner said, "International students make extremely valuable contributions to American universities and their participation does much to broaden international understanding of America.  By covering the SEVIS fee for those who select The University of Texas, we reinforce our welcome to them and we eliminate the new financial barrier to their coming here."

After some debate, when fees increased this October, the university decided to continue the policy.

"We will reimburse the new Spring 2009 students the increased fee: $180 for J-1 students and $200 for F-1 students," Albrecht said. 

For semesters thereafter, the university has made no official decision.

Albrecht said she was pleased when UT announced its plans to continue repaying international students, adding, "Very few universities actually refund SEVIS fees to their students."

Universities themselves also face rising fees.  Initial certification costs rose this year from $230 to $1700.  Inspections rose from $350 to $655 for each site visit.

Othoniel Vazquez, an international student from Veracruz, Mexico, said despite reimbursement, the SEVIS program violates his privacy.  "It feels like someone is breathing down the back of your neck," Vazquez said, holding his hand behind his head.  "You feel insulted."

Many international students remember paying the SEVIS fee but had no idea what the program was.  Both Sulaiman Al Beayeyz, also from Saudia Arabia, and Al Mulhem, said they didn't previously know about SEVIS because they didn't read about the program when completing their admissions paperwork. 

"I didn't know about it.  I just thought it was another visa fee," said Al Beayeyz after learning what the SEVIS fee supports.

In 2004, hundreds of international students across the U.S. organized to protest and fight against the implementation of the fee.  One of the most successful protests was held at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

More than 100 international graduate students refused to pay.  George Liu, a Ph.D. student from China, organized a successful large-scale protest, claiming the university was encouraging a xenophobic and discriminative environment. 

Some foreign students, most of whom come from solid, financially stable families, still say it feels strange to be on a watch list, as it sets up an invisible yet ever-present barrier to normal student life.