New student visa policy to begin in January

Hsuan Pei-Shuan arrived at UCLA from the National Taiwan
University on Sept. 16 to find UCLA much the same as it had been
for thousands of other international exchange students who came
before Sept. 11, 2001.

True, her student visa was a little harder to get, her bursting
suitcases were completely disassembled and emptied at customs, and
if she goes back to Taiwan for a visit she will need a special note
from the Bradley International Center.

But for Hsuan, who is studying English literature, the
experience has not been drastically different from international
students who studied here before the terror attacks prompted
increased interest in security.

Since Sept. 11, 2001, 91 percent of UCLA’s international
students have attended workshops about how to maintain their legal
immigration status. But many may still be unaware that the greatest
change is yet to come.

Currently, if one of the more than 6,000 international students
or exchange visitors at UCLA fail to satisfy the requirements of
their student visa, the problem is handled by UCLA.

Beginning on January 31, colleges and universities across the
nation will be required to report international student information
to the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

Additionally, the document that allows all international
students and exchange visitors to enter the United States will be
issued by an INS database instead of by the university.

The Student Exchange Visitor Information Service, an information
database maintained by the INS, transfers international student
information from universities to the federal government.

This move changes UCLA’s traditionally reactive approach
to problems concerning international students and exchange visitors
to be more proactive, said Jeremy Wintringer, special projects
administrator for the Office of International Students and
Scholars.

Under the new system, visa “events” ““ breeches
of an international student’s visa agreement ““ will
have to be reported to the INS. So any rule-breaking will be
detected more quickly than it would be now. There are 19 events,
ranging from failing to report a change of address to having a
prohibited off campus job.

Before the SEVIS program was implemented, if someone fell out of
visa status, the problem would be handled by experienced counselors
at UCLA. With the new system, the information goes straight to the
INS.

Biographical statistics, such as failures to meet minimum
progress, will be reported automatically through URSA.

“We are not spying on the students,” said Jonathan
Curtiss, who is working closely with the registrar’s office,
admissions, and the Administrative Information System to develop
the SEVIS system.

The coalition of UCLA department heads working on SEVIS is
trying to ensure no international student or exchange visitor is
incorrectly reported as being out of status.

“In this environment, our job is changed to making sure
that students understand the rules before they make a
mistake,” Wintringer said.

“We don’t want people to slip through the
cracks,” said Curtiss.

The possibility of erroneous minimum progress reports primarily
concerns graduate students, because undergraduates must be enrolled
in at least 13 units per quarter. However, a full time graduate
student finishing a thesis might not be enrolled in any
classes.

Many international students are concerned about rising costs
coming from the installation of the SEVIS system, but these fee
hikes are comparable to increased fees for out of state students,
said Lawrence Gower, Director of the UCLA office of International
Students and Scholars.

“(The SEVIS program) should only cost students about sixty
dollars,” he said.