ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) has updated its Frequently Asked Questions for SEVP Stakeholders about COVID-19 on August 7th. This new version focuses on current students, whose SEVIS record is in Active status, and taking 100% online courses. If you have followed our blog for a while, you might remember the previous ICE guideline touched upon taking 100% online course works as a new or initial status student. Now this guideline focuses on current international students who intend to take classes remotely mostly from their home countries. At the end of the blog post, you will learn how current students can maintain their SEVIS record and what to do if they choose to take classes from one of the partnered universities.
Related blog post: Latest ICE update: Initial student/ 100% online
ICE update summary: ICE allows current students to take 100% online courses. In this light, current students who take 100% online courses from their home country can maintain their SEVIS record active and the 5-month-rule will not apply to them. International students who intend to attend a partner university in their home country upon the approval should have “study abroad” marked in SEVIS.
Contents
- New ICE guideline on 100% online for current international students
- Taking courses from partner universities in your home country
New ICE guideline on 100% online for current international students
On the recently updated ICE guideline, it allows current students to take online courses toward a full course of study. This means that undergraduate students can take 12 credits of online courses and graduate students can take 9 credits of online classes. The guideline also confirms that current students can maintain their SEVIS record active as long as students are registered for a full-time course load. In this spirit, students who successfully maintain their SEVIS record active throughout the Fall 2020 semester will not be subjected to the five-month temporary absence rule. Therefore, when international students seek the re-entry for Spring 2021 intake, students don’t have to obtain the new I-20, just because they were outside of the U.S. for more than 5 months.
Related blog post: F-1 student visa 5 month rule affected by COVID-19
Pasted below is the updated part of the Frequently Asked Questions for SEVP Stakeholders about COVID-19 on August 7th regarding maintaining the SEVIS records.
Maintaining student records
- Do DSOs have to cancel Forms I-20 if students are taking classes outside of the United States? If their Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) records remain in Active status, will students be subject to the five-month rule?
A. If an Active F student is outside the United States, their SEVIS record can remain in Active status and not be terminated. While the temporary measures related to COVID-19 are in place, students are deemed to be maintaining status if they are making normal progress in their course of study. For that reason, the five-month temporary absence provision addressed in 8 C.F.R. 214.2(f)(4) will not apply for students who remain in Active status.
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SEVP will allow F and M students to temporarily count online classes toward a full course of study in excess of the limits stated in 8 CFR 214.2(f)(6)(i)(G) and 8 CFR 214.2(m)(9)(v), even if they are outside the United States and are taking the online classes elsewhere. This temporary provision is only in effect due to COVID-19 and only for schools that comply with the requirement to notify SEVP of any procedural changes within 10 business days.
Taking courses from partner universities in your home country
Another part that ICE addressed on the new guideline is the scenario where students take classes from one of the partnered universities in their home country rather than taking online classes from the home university in the United States. Some foreign students might prefer this option since it is not easy for international students to take synchronous online courses due to time differences. If your university in the U.S. has partnerships with some colleges in your home country, you might want to reach out to your advisor to see what are available options for you. For students who completed the process to take courses from partnered institutions, their SEVIS record should have “Study Abroad” marked. In other words, students, who take online courses in their home country, do not have to be marked “Study Abroad” in SEVIS, unless they are attending partnered overseas institutions. Instead, the previous version says students who are taking classes from their home country should have a remark that says “Outside the United States due to COVID-19.“
Pasted below is the updated part of the Frequently Asked Questions for SEVP Stakeholders about COVID-19 on August 7th regarding “Study Abroad” mark in SEVIS.
- Should DSOs mark the “Study Abroad” field in SEVIS for students who are outside the United States and are in Active status, engaging in online studies from their home country?
A. Schools should not mark “Study Abroad” in SEVIS for students who are in their home countries unless they are attending an overseas institution as part of a formal study abroad arrangement.
To sum, ICE guideline is more flexible for current students compared to new and initial status students. If you well maintained your SEVIS record since last semester (in other words, if you completed Spring 2020 semester), you will be able to register for online courses as many as you want and you are allowed to. What is more, as long as a current student makes sure to take a full course of study and complete the course, Fall 2020 will be counted toward the one academic year requirement for applying for OPT/ CPT.
