Student and Exchange Visitor Program
The Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) is a networked computer system set up in the United States to track information on international and foreign exchange students attending school in the U.S. The SEVIS system requires schools to maintain attendance records for foreign students. Students who do not show up for classes will be investigated and possibly deported.
The system was set up by the Immigration and Nationalization Service to make it more difficult for terrorists and other illegal immigrants to use the student visa system to enter the country. As of August 1, 2003, universities and schools in the U.S. are required to enter foreign student information into the SEVIS database.
While SEVIS was set up in response to the September 11th terrorist attacks, its existence was mandated by a law passed in 1996, the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA). The IIRIRA and SEVIS have both drawn criticism from foreign governments, civil rights groups in the U.S., and secondary schools in the U.S., many of which derive a large part of their tuition income from foreign students.