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Written by: Cody Brumfield
Published: 04/23/2008 SEVIS Fees to Double Under New Department of Homeland Security Plan
The Department of Homeland Security has proposed new regulations that would double the visa application fee students must pay to attend a U.S. college. The additional fees would go to upgrade the Student Exchange Visitor Information System, or SEVIS, that monitors non-immigrant international students. DHS officials say the fees -- $200 for an F-1 student visa and $180 for a J-1 exchange-visitor visa -– are necessary and will not deter international applications because $200 is a fraction of the cost of attending college. College advocates counter that, while $200 may not appear prohibitive, there are no such fees in most industrialized nations and competition for top international talent is fierce. In addition, the fee to apply for an off-campus work visa -– a necessity for many less wealthy international students -– nearly doubled last July to $340. The proposed regulations would also raise fees that colleges must pay for initial SEVIS certification and inspections. Those fees will increase to $1,700 – up from $230 – for initiating the certification process and $650 for each site visit. Currently, colleges pay $230 for each site visits. Colleges already certified and inspected will not be affected by fee increase.
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