This article was prepared with the assistance of ABIL, the Alliance of Business Immigration Lawyers, of which Loan Huynh is an active member.
After the Department of Homeland Security suddenly reversed course under pressure on April 25, 2025, and restored many foreign students’ Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) records along with their legal status, the administration sent out mixed signals, saying the action was temporary while the agency worked out an unspecified policy. According to reports, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reinstated many SEVIS records as of April 24, 2025 — not retroactively to the date of termination of the records, thus leaving a gap that could be construed as rendering the students out of status during that time, which could have severe consequences.
A new ICE memorandum provides guidance to Student and Exchange Visitor Program managers on terminating SEVIS records on various grounds and notes that a terminated SEVIS record “could indicate that the nonimmigrant no longer maintains F or M status.”
The memo also states that “DOS may at any time, in its discretion, revoke an alien’s visa. [The Department of State] can consider derogatory information provided by ICE and other U.S. law enforcement agencies in its assessment of whether visa revocation is appropriate for an alien. When DOS revokes an alien’s visa with immediate effect, ICE should take steps to initiate removal proceedings.”
Litigation is expected to clarify whether students whose SEVIS records were terminated and restored remain at risk and whether the period during which their records were terminated constitutes unlawful presence.
