Harvard University’s foreign students may face US exit if… | What we know

International students currently enrolled at Harvard will be required to transfer from the school or lose their ability to remain in the United States legally if the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) decision to revoke the university’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) certification remains in effect.

International students at Harvard will have to transfer to an SEVP-certified university if they wish to stay in the US legally.(REUTERS)

The Harvard Crimson, the university’s student-led newspaper, reported that the loss of SEVP certification could be a major loss for those relying on student visas to attend Harvard. 

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They added that the university was likely to challenge the revocation with a temporary restraining order or injunction but the protection would last for a short period and international students would remain in limbo for that time.

SEVP certification, which is issued by the DHS, authorizes colleges and universities to enroll international students on F-1 and M-1 visas — the most common type of student visas. Without the certification, institutions cannot issue the Form I-20, which serves as proof of enrollment and is necessary for visitors to maintain student status.

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Harvard’s SEVP certification was revoked on Thursday notice, just weeks after the university announced that they had partially complied with demands from the DHS on providing information on international students involved in protests.

“If students have completed all of their graduation requirements, they should still be able to graduate, so that shouldn’t be an issue,” Nicole Hallett, an immigration rights professor at the University of Chicago’s law school told the Crimson.

What does loss of SEVP status mean for students?

University spokesperson Jason A. Newton wrote in a response to the revocation, that the DHS’s decision was “unlawful” and that Harvard was “fully committed to maintaining Harvard’s ability to host our international students and scholars.”

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If the status is not restored the Harvard may not be able to have international students in it’s next batch. Students who transfer to a SEVP-certified university would be able to retain a valid I-20, and thus avoid losing their visas.

However, the transfer deadline for many schools falls in March, meaning students’ status in the US would be uncertain while they wait for applications to open.

The revocation of the SEVP status will not immediately invalidate visas as timelines have not been mentioned by the concerned authorities. Bhuvanyaa Vijay, an immigration attorney at the Law Office of Johanna M. Herrero and graduate of Harvard Law School stated, as quoted by the Crimson,  “They did not say 15 days or 60 days or two days — nothing. When we get such clients, we tell them to ‘Hurry up,’ and within 15 days at best, try to transfer.”

For some visa-holders enrolled in Optional Practical Training, which enables participants to remain in the country for work up to three years after graduation, transfer is not an option, according to former vice president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association Jeff Joseph.

A federal judge in California blocked an order terminating the legal status of international students nationwide, soon after Harvard lost its SEVP status, however, it might not help keep international students at the university since the cases are unrelated to each other.