Difference between revisions of "Timeline of student visa policy in the United States"

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| 1992 || {{dts|October 9}} || || || The {{w|Chinese Student Protection Act of 1992}} is signed into law by President George H. W. Bush. It formalizes the protections created by Executive Order 12711.
 
| 1992 || {{dts|October 9}} || || || The {{w|Chinese Student Protection Act of 1992}} is signed into law by President George H. W. Bush. It formalizes the protections created by Executive Order 12711.
 
|-
 
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| 1993 || {{dts|February 26}} || || || The {{w|1993 World Trade Center bombing}} occurs. It is discovered that {{w|Eyad Ismoil}}, one of the terrorists, is in the United States on an expired student visa.
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| 1993 || {{dts|February 26}} || || || The {{w|1993 World Trade Center bombing}} occurs. It is discovered that {{w|Eyad Ismoil}}, one of the terrorists, is in the United States on an expired student visa.<ref name=shareok/><ref name=ins-fsp-report>{{cite web|url = https://oig.justice.gov/special/0205/chapter6.htm|title = CHAPTER SIX. THE INS'S FOREIGN STUDENT PROGRAM|date = May 20, 2002|accessdate = February 10, 2016}}</ref>
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|-
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| 1994 || {{dts|September 24}} || || || A memorandum from the {{w|U.S. Department of Justice}}'s Office of Investigative Agency Policies to the Deputy Attorney General dated September 24, 1994, mentioned the need to subject foreign students to thorough and continuing scrutiny before and during their stay in the United States.<ref name=ins-fsp-report/>
 +
|-
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| 1995 || || || || On April 17, the Deputy Attorney General asks the INS Commissioner to address the issues from the Department of Justice report. The INS forms a task force in June 1995 to conduct a comprehensive review of the F, M, and J visa processes. Besides the INS, the task force includes members from the State Department and the United States Information Agency, and experts in the administration of international student programs.<ref name=ins-fsp-report/> The task force report, issued on December 22, 1995, identified problems in the tracking and monitoring of students by schools, problems in the certification of schools by the INS, and problems with INS receiving and maintaining up-to-date records from schools.<ref name=ins-fsp-report/> Based on this, the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA) directs the Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretary of State, to develop and conduct a program to collect certain information on nonimmigrant foreign students and exchange visitors from approved institutions of higher education and designated exchange visitor programs.<ref name=ins-fsp-report/><ref name=shareok/>
 +
|-
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| 1997 || June || || || The INS launches a pilot program for a centralized electronic reporting system for institutions, called the Coordinated Interagency Partnership Regulating International Students (CIPRIS). The CIPRIS pilot would officially end in October 1999, as the INS felt it had gathered enough data from the prototype to start working on the nationwide system.<ref name=ins-fsp-report/>
 +
|-
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| 1999 || || || || Based on experience gathered from the CIPRIS pilot, the INS begins work on what would be called the {{w|Student and Exchange Visitor Program}} (SEVP), with the associated information system called the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS). SEVIS meets with considerable initial opposition from the {{w|Association of International Educators}} and {{w|American Council on Education}}, but they claim that their opposition is not to the program in principle but concern that a botched rollout could affect many students.<ref name=shareok/><ref name=ins-fsp-report/>
 +
|-
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| 2001 || September and October || || || In the aftermath of the {{w|September 11 attacks}} (September 11, 2001) and the {{w|Patriot Act}} (October 26, 2001), there is increased momentum in favor of SEVIS. This is partly because one of the attackers, {{w|Hani Hanjour}}, had come to the United States on a student visa.<ref name=shareok/><ref name=ins-fsp-report/><ref name=factcheck-hanjour>{{cite web|url = http://www.factcheck.org/2013/05/911-hijackers-and-student-visas/|title = 9/11 Hijackers and Student Visas|last = Farley|first = Robert|date = May 10, 2013|accessdate = June 17, 2016}}</ref>
 +
|-
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| 2002 || April 12 || || || An interim final rule is announced, requiring anybody on a B visa to transition to a F or M visa prior to starting a program of study. Moreover, people on B status could transition using {{w|Form I-539}} (i.e., change status while in the US) only if their visa had an annotation indicating that they might transition to student status.<ref name=b-visa-transition-to-f-or-m-ifr>{{cite web|url = https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/eoir/legacy/2003/07/09/fr12ap02R.pdf|title = Requiring  Change  of  Status  From  B  to  F–1  or  M–1  Nonimmigrant  Prior  to Pursuing  a  Course  of  Study;  Final  Rule Limiting  the  Period  of  Admission  for  B Nonimmigrant  Aliens;  Proposed  Rule|date = April 12, 2002|accessdate = January 29, 2017|publisher = [[U.S. Department of Justice]], [[Immigration and Naturalization Service]], in the ''[[Federal Register]]''}}</ref><ref name=shareok/>
 +
|-
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| 2002 || May 7 || || || A Presidential Directive calls for the creation of the Interagency Panel on Advanced Science and Security (IPASS). intent of IPASS was to help with the evaluation of suspicious visa applications in subjects that have implications for national security.<ref name=shareok/><ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/200208/visas.cfm|title = Proposed New Department Complicates Outlook for Visas|accessdate = February 10, 2016|publisher = [[American Physical Society]]}}</ref>
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|-
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| 2002 || May 16 || || || A proposed rule is announced on this date: Retention and reporting requirements for F, J, and M nonimmigrants; Student and Exchange Visitor Information System<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/eoir/legacy/2003/07/09/fr16may02.pdf|title = Retention and Reporting of Information  for F, J, and M Nonimmigrants; Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS)|date = May 16, 2002|accessdate = January 29, 2017|publisher = U.S. Department of Justice Immigration and Naturalization Service in the ''Federal Register''}}</ref>
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|-
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| 2002 || July 1 || || || An interim final rule is announced on this date: Allowing eligible schools to apply for preliminary enrollment in SEVIS<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/eoir/legacy/2003/07/09/fr01july02.pdf|title = Allowing  Eligible  Schools  To  Apply for Preliminary Enrollment in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS); Interim Final Rule|date = July 1, 2002|accessdate = January 29, 2017|publisher = [[U.S. Department of Justice [[Immigration and Naturalization Service in the ''Federal Register''}}</ref>
 +
|-
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| 2002 || September 11 || || || The Interim Student and Exchange Authentication System (ISEAS), an interim program by the [[U.S. Department of State]], comes into force. This is a temporary system put in place until SEVIS goes live.<ref name=sevis-glossary>{{cite web|url = https://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/EDU0212.pdf|title = A Glossary of SEVIS-Related Terminology|last = Croom|first = Patty|last2 = Ellis|first2 = Jim|accessdate = January 29, 2017}}</ref>
 +
|-
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| 2002 || September 25 || || || An interim final rule is announced on this date: Requiring certification of all service-approved schools for SEVIS enrollment<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/eoir/legacy/2002/11/06/fr25sep02.pdf|title = Requiring Certification of all Service Approved Schools for Enrollment in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS)|date = September 25, 2002|accessdate = January 29, 2017|publisher = [[U.S. Department of Justice]] [[Immigration and Naturalization Service]] in the ''[[Federal Register]]''}}</ref>
 +
|-
 +
| 2002 || December 11 || || || An interim final rule is announced on this date: Retention and reporting of information for F, J, and M nonimmigrants; SEVIS<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/eoir/legacy/2003/01/10/fr11dec02.pdf|title = Retention  and  Reporting  of  Information  for  F,  J,  and  M  Nonimmigrants;  Student  and  Exchange Visitor  Information  System  (SEVIS);  Final  Rule|date = December 11, 2002|accessdate = January 29, 2017|publisher = [[U.S. Department of Justice]] [[Immigration and Naturalization Service]] in the ''[[Federal Register]]''}}</ref>
 +
|-
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| 2003 || January 31 || || || Mandatory SEVIS use begins on this date.<ref name=shareok/>
 
|}
 
|}
  

Revision as of 16:50, 21 January 2019

This timeline covers the student visa policy of the United States.

It is a complement to the timeline of immigration enforcement in the United States and timeline of immigrant processing and visa policy in the United States.

Get more details from F visa#History (written by author of this timeline so no need for additional attribution).

Full timeline

Year Month and date (if available) Event type Affected agencies (past, and present equivalents) Details
1855 The Carriage of Passengers Act of 1855 recognizes students as a category of temporary immigrant.[1]
1882 The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 significantly restricts the immigration of Chinese sklled and unskilled laborers, but carves out an exception for students.[1]
1913 The U.S. Bureau of Education records indicate that 4,222 international students were enrolled in 275 U.S. universities, colleges, and technical schools; most of them were sent by foreign governments for education and training that would be useful when the students returned home.[1]
1918 All noncitizens are required to obtain visas prior to entry to the United States.[2]
1919 The Institute of International Education is formed to protect and promote the interests of international students and exchange visitors.[1]
1921 Lobbying by the IIE to the classification of students as nonimmigrants and the creation of a separate nonimmigrant visa for students, thereby exempting students from the numerical quotas placed in the Emergency Quota Act of 1921 and the Immigration Act of 1924.[1][3]
1924 The United States Congress requires consular officers to make a determination of admissibility prior to issuing a visa.[2]
1989 April 11 Executive Order 12711 is issued by President George H. W. Bush. It defers deportation of Chinese nationals and their direct dependents who were in the US between 5 June 1989 and 11 April 1990, waives the 2-year home country residency requirement, and gives them employment authorization through 1 January 1994. In particular, this Act affects students, who constitute a large fraction of Chinese nationals temporarily present in the United States.
1992 October 9 The Chinese Student Protection Act of 1992 is signed into law by President George H. W. Bush. It formalizes the protections created by Executive Order 12711.
1993 February 26 The 1993 World Trade Center bombing occurs. It is discovered that Eyad Ismoil, one of the terrorists, is in the United States on an expired student visa.[1][4]
1994 September 24 A memorandum from the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Investigative Agency Policies to the Deputy Attorney General dated September 24, 1994, mentioned the need to subject foreign students to thorough and continuing scrutiny before and during their stay in the United States.[4]
1995 On April 17, the Deputy Attorney General asks the INS Commissioner to address the issues from the Department of Justice report. The INS forms a task force in June 1995 to conduct a comprehensive review of the F, M, and J visa processes. Besides the INS, the task force includes members from the State Department and the United States Information Agency, and experts in the administration of international student programs.[4] The task force report, issued on December 22, 1995, identified problems in the tracking and monitoring of students by schools, problems in the certification of schools by the INS, and problems with INS receiving and maintaining up-to-date records from schools.[4] Based on this, the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA) directs the Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretary of State, to develop and conduct a program to collect certain information on nonimmigrant foreign students and exchange visitors from approved institutions of higher education and designated exchange visitor programs.[4][1]
1997 June The INS launches a pilot program for a centralized electronic reporting system for institutions, called the Coordinated Interagency Partnership Regulating International Students (CIPRIS). The CIPRIS pilot would officially end in October 1999, as the INS felt it had gathered enough data from the prototype to start working on the nationwide system.[4]
1999 Based on experience gathered from the CIPRIS pilot, the INS begins work on what would be called the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), with the associated information system called the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS). SEVIS meets with considerable initial opposition from the Association of International Educators and American Council on Education, but they claim that their opposition is not to the program in principle but concern that a botched rollout could affect many students.[1][4]
2001 September and October In the aftermath of the September 11 attacks (September 11, 2001) and the Patriot Act (October 26, 2001), there is increased momentum in favor of SEVIS. This is partly because one of the attackers, Hani Hanjour, had come to the United States on a student visa.[1][4][5]
2002 April 12 An interim final rule is announced, requiring anybody on a B visa to transition to a F or M visa prior to starting a program of study. Moreover, people on B status could transition using Form I-539 (i.e., change status while in the US) only if their visa had an annotation indicating that they might transition to student status.[6][1]
2002 May 7 A Presidential Directive calls for the creation of the Interagency Panel on Advanced Science and Security (IPASS). intent of IPASS was to help with the evaluation of suspicious visa applications in subjects that have implications for national security.[1][7]
2002 May 16 A proposed rule is announced on this date: Retention and reporting requirements for F, J, and M nonimmigrants; Student and Exchange Visitor Information System[8]
2002 July 1 An interim final rule is announced on this date: Allowing eligible schools to apply for preliminary enrollment in SEVIS[9]
2002 September 11 The Interim Student and Exchange Authentication System (ISEAS), an interim program by the U.S. Department of State, comes into force. This is a temporary system put in place until SEVIS goes live.[10]
2002 September 25 An interim final rule is announced on this date: Requiring certification of all service-approved schools for SEVIS enrollment[11]
2002 December 11 An interim final rule is announced on this date: Retention and reporting of information for F, J, and M nonimmigrants; SEVIS[12]
2003 January 31 Mandatory SEVIS use begins on this date.[1]

References

  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 Mary Helen Reeves. "A Descriptive Case Study of the Impact of 9/11 on International Student Visa Policy in the 20 Months Following the Attacks" (PDF). Retrieved February 10, 2016. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 "Brief of Amicus Curiae Law Professors in Support of Respondent (Kerry v. Din)" (PDF). American Bar Association. 
  3. "A Brief History of IIE". Retrieved February 10, 2016. 
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 "CHAPTER SIX. THE INS'S FOREIGN STUDENT PROGRAM". May 20, 2002. Retrieved February 10, 2016. 
  5. Farley, Robert (May 10, 2013). "9/11 Hijackers and Student Visas". Retrieved June 17, 2016. 
  6. "Requiring Change of Status From B to F–1 or M–1 Nonimmigrant Prior to Pursuing a Course of Study; Final Rule Limiting the Period of Admission for B Nonimmigrant Aliens; Proposed Rule" (PDF). U.S. Department of Justice, Immigration and Naturalization Service, in the Federal Register. April 12, 2002. Retrieved January 29, 2017. 
  7. "Proposed New Department Complicates Outlook for Visas". American Physical Society. Retrieved February 10, 2016. 
  8. "Retention and Reporting of Information for F, J, and M Nonimmigrants; Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS)" (PDF). U.S. Department of Justice Immigration and Naturalization Service in the Federal Register. May 16, 2002. Retrieved January 29, 2017. 
  9. {{cite web|url = https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/eoir/legacy/2003/07/09/fr01july02.pdf%7Ctitle = Allowing Eligible Schools To Apply for Preliminary Enrollment in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS); Interim Final Rule|date = July 1, 2002|accessdate = January 29, 2017|publisher = [[U.S. Department of Justice [[Immigration and Naturalization Service in the Federal Register}}
  10. Croom, Patty; Ellis, Jim. "A Glossary of SEVIS-Related Terminology" (PDF). Retrieved January 29, 2017. 
  11. "Requiring Certification of all Service Approved Schools for Enrollment in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS)" (PDF). U.S. Department of Justice Immigration and Naturalization Service in the Federal Register. September 25, 2002. Retrieved January 29, 2017. 
  12. "Retention and Reporting of Information for F, J, and M Nonimmigrants; Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS); Final Rule" (PDF). U.S. Department of Justice Immigration and Naturalization Service in the Federal Register. December 11, 2002. Retrieved January 29, 2017.