The University deadline for international students to apply for a new government mandated identification form was July 3, but today some students faced with the threat of deportation still have not contacted the University.
To maintain legal status in the United States, international students throughout the nation must update their Certificate of Eligiblity — a document needed to obtain a visa — from F-1 documentation to a new I-20 form.
Undergraduate international students were classified as F-1 students prior to Sept. 11, 2001. These students will be classified as I-20 students if they turn in their documentation.
After Sept. 11, 2001 the government felt pressure to track international students more closely because of the belief terrorists had expired student visas, International Services Office director Natalie Rigby said.
As a result, in February 2003 the government implemented the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, which will help track students.
Amy Baide, ISO documentation services coordinator, said it is critical for the 40 students who have not yet contacted the University to do so. The deadline for the University to enter updated information is August 1.
A small window is open for the students to update.
Some may not have to change any of their information already in their files. Others, though, may have married an American, changed addresses or graduated. All of these factors affect their international student status.
“The information in the database now could be incorrect,” Baide said. “So far, the process has helped to clean up the files. Some students did not bother to keep us informed on changes in status until now.”
The ISO sent braodcast e-mails to international students informing them of their new responsibity this spring, Baide said. Now the office has narrowed the e-mails to only those who have yet to respond.
ISO webmaster Olivier Harel has been in charge of e-mailing the students from the start.
“If the students don’t respond soon, we will eventually start calling them,” Harel said. “We e-mail their LSU accounts, but we aren’t sure which account they check.”
Another reason students might not be responding is they are traveling overseas for the summer, Baide said.
“What we are afraid of is that they are overseas with no access to e-mail,” Baide said. “Their files will be terminated after the deadline.”
If their files are terminated, international students will not be permitted into the country on their return to the University.
Other students might not want to be tracked, Harel said.
“Some people might be scared of being in the database where people could track them,” Harel said.
In the end, it will be the responsiblity of the ISO to enter all information into SEVIS, Baide said. As a result, incorrect information may be entered simply because students are not being responsible.
“It shocks me that they aren’t more responsible about their status,” Baide said. “Some didn’t respond until our e-mails asked, ‘Are you aware you could be deported?'”
According to an ISO newsletter, an international student classified as F-1 without the new I-20ID can complete the Request Form on the ISO’s web site at: wwww.lsu.edu/iso. The application should be brought to the ISO on the first floor of Hatcher Hall.