Int'l student fee doubles

By Lee Zucker

Published April 29, 2008

To continue support and upgrades of the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security plans to double the international student fee to about $200.

Sevis is once again outdated, according to the Federal Register. The system currently relies on upgrades and patches in the system.

An increase in the international student fee for the system will allow for a more efficient system able to track activities with a single individual, which is nearly impossible with current software.

More officers will also be hired to better regulate the system, inspect individual institutions and assist institutions in problems more efficiently, Scott said.

An international student’s address and school of study are recorded in the Sevis system and updated anytime there is a change in one of those areas, MU Sevis Compliance Coordinator Meghan Lunders said. The update must be completed within a set time limit determined by the particular change in the record.

In addition to the individual international student fee doubling, institutions seeking to become Sevis certified will pay $1,700 starting Oct. 1, which is currently a fee of $230. The UM system is exempt because of its membership from the start of the system.

Missouri International Student Council President Thitinun Boonseng said the constant increase in fees, visas and immigration applications are taking a toll on the university.

“All the immigration documentation fees have increased over 200 percent in the past few years because they’ve added a lot of securities,” Boonseng said. “There are a lot of other English-speaking countries who have much lower costs than the United States. People from Thailand have shifted their education target to different countries instead of coming to the United States.”

Although the U.S. approach is different from other countries, the U.S. has very strong universities, Scott said, and he hopes students will put up with the slight increase in fees to receive a higher quality of education.

MU educates students from 95 different countries and 75 percent of international students are graduate students, Scott said.

“The students are very talented, so they add a very large research capacity to our university,” he said. “One of the things we forget is that it’s a privilege to have the students here from all parts of the world.”

Boonseng, a 12-year MU student, has witnessed the changes in international student security pre and post Sept. 11. With each update in the international student, Boonseng said he feels more inconvenienced.

“Before, I wouldn’t have to report this many times as I would have now,” Boonseng said.

Boonseng said he does understand the precautions the government takes in regards to international students.

“It (Sevis) makes sense because if they know where all the students are, they can eliminate the threat,” Boonseng said. “If this country is safe, we are safe, too, since we are also residents in this country. However, if the Department of Homeland Security can focus on making the process more seamless, it would help us a lot. For the most part, I think that we all understand the necessity.”