ICE withdraws plans to change F-1 rules regarding remote study for fall

in Fall 2024 Workshops
July 14th, 2020

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agreed in federal court to rescind plans to change temporary F-1 rules for the fall semester and to extend the interim COVID guidance published by the Student Exchange Visitor Information Program (SEVP) in the spring to the fall semester. This guidance will allow schools and students continued regulatory and SEVIS record-keeping flexibility for the fall semester. The ISSO will continue to update resources on the ISSO website. Please continue to review details of the FAQs and travel considerations during COVID for continuing students and for new students on the ISSO menu of services during COVID.

SEVP Distributes Preliminary Guidance for Fall Enrollment

July 7, 2020

On July 6, 2020, the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) distributed a summary of potential guidance regarding continuing accommodations for F-1 students for the fall 2020 semester. This updated guidance appears to continue to allow students to take more online courses than normally allowed by regulation, provided that students continue to take courses in person. Specifically, this preview of guidance supports the hybrid mode of instruction outlined on the Back2BU portal, so this is good news for new F-1 students planning on joining BU and those returning to campus for the Fall.

However, this summary raises serious questions as it does not provide the same level of flexibility afforded to schools and students in spring and summer. It implies that schools may not be able to maintain active SEVIS records for continuing students who choose to enroll in only remote or fully online courses. International students have the ability to enroll in online instruction from their home country, but BU may not be able to keep their SEVIS records open during this time. We are waiting on the publication of the Temporary Final Rule and updated FAQs from SEVP which should offer more specific details and we are actively seeking clarification. We continue to advocate for maximum SEVIS record-keeping flexibility in the best interest of our students.

We will continue to encourage students to travel and return to campus for the fall semester, if possible, given COVID-related travel restrictions. We know students have specific questions as to how this new guidance impacts their fall enrollment decisions, and we appreciate your patience as we seek clarification from SEVP. As more details are known, we will continue to update the ISSO website and we will also update students via e-mail. All international students should pay careful attention to e-mails received from ISSO over the next few weeks, as we may need to collect important information from individual students related to their Fall plans.