On Tuesday, December 8, 2020, the Department of Homeland Security’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) provided an update for winter and spring 2021 academic terms, directing F-1 nonimmigrant students to continue to follow previous SEVP guidelines originally issued in March 2020 and used for fall 2020.

Please read the updated guidance for winter and spring quarters here, which published on December 18, 2020.

The below statement was sent to students on November 9, 2020, and does not reflect the updated information provided by the Department of Homeland Security on December 8, 2020. This updated guidance is covered in the announcement linked above.

Originally published: Nov. 9, 2020

On Friday, September 25, 2020, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security published in the Federal Register a proposed rule to eliminate duration of status (D/S) for F-1 students and J-1 scholars and students, including their dependents, and proposes to set an expiration date for their authorized stay. The rule change document is over 200 pages, and right now we are working to understand the details, and the best way to respond and to protect international students and scholars.  We will post more information as soon as we can on the SISS website.

On May 29, 2020, President Donald Trump issued a Presidential Proclamation effective June 1, 2020, that suspends entry into the United States for some researchers and students at the graduate level and higher on F or J visas.

The federal government has canceled plans to adopt and enforce new Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) guidelines and related FAQs for fall 2020, which were announced by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on July 6 and July 7, respectively.

On October 8, 2018, SISS hosted a panel presentation to discuss UCSIS changes in counting days of unlawful presence. This page contains questions from international students, scholars and UC Davis staff and answers from the panel of Services for International Students and Scholars advisors.

On June 22, 2020, President Donald Trump issued the “Proclamation Suspending Entry of Aliens Who Present a Risk to the U.S. Labor Market Following the Coronavirus Outbreak.” This proclamation continues Proclamation 10014 of April 22, 2020, impacting nonimmigrant visas. This prohibits foreign nationals from entering the United States on H, L, and some J visas. The UC Davis community may have questions regarding this proclamation. Services for International Students and Scholars (SISS) has addressed some below.

An earlier Presidential Proclamation from March suspending the entry of most non-U.S. nationals entering the United States from select countries has been updated to include Brazil.

At UC Davis, Services for International Students and Scholars (SISS) processes and provides support to these individuals, over 8,000 of whom fall under the regulations of the Department of Homeland Security’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program.

A month-long program at International House Davis that features personal stories of deportation in order to humanize what is often a discussion based more on policy and statistics has been extended into December.