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(Changes designed to enhance border security)

September 17, 2002

The U.S. State Department is moving toward implementation of a new visa approval system required under the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2002. The new law was passed by Congress and signed by the president last May as a result of security concerns arising from the September 11 terrorist attacks.  

After the attacks, examination of immigration and visa procedures revealed weaknesses in the system that a would-be terrorist could conceivably exploit to enter the United States with intent to do harm. The Border Security Act requires a wide array of procedural changes designed to prevent entry of terrorist suspects and to create better information sharing between visa operations, immigration and law enforcement authorities.  

The new process currently being implemented by the State Department requires greater scrutiny of candidates for several types of visas issued to students, academics, researchers and some other professionals. According to a September 10 statement from State Department Deputy Spokesman Philip T. Reeker, the Bureau of Consular Affairs is implementing a system to better verify that applicants for visas in the F, J or M categories have been accepted by an academic institution in keeping with eligibility requirements.  

The new Internet-based system, known as the Interim Student and Exchange Authentication System (ISEAS), requires electronic evidence of the applicant’s acceptance at an academic institution. The system has a number of checks, requiring the user to submit a profile to conduct the procedure, using passwords and codes. 

New applicants for visas in these categories are required to use ISEAS, and so are holders of previously-issued visas who are returning to a U.S.-based academic program after a break.  

The ISEAS is an interim system and will be in place only until the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) is able to implement a new Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS). The Border Security Act requires the new INS system to be in place by January 30, 2003.  

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U.S. Department of State

Press Statement

Philip T. Reeker, Deputy Spokesman, Washington, DC

September 10, 2002

Implementation of the Interim Student and Exchange Authentication System

On September 11, 2002, the Bureau of Consular Affairs will implement the Interim Student and Exchange Authentication System (ISEAS).  The system will verify the acceptance for enrollment of foreign students and exchange visitors and their dependents who wish to enter the United States in F, J or M non-immigrant visa categories.  There will be a 30-day notification period, which will provide adequate time for institutions and exchange programs to enter the required data into the system.  During this period, the Bureau of Consular Affairs will continue worldwide processing of F, J and M visa applications under current procedures and electronic acceptance verification will be permitted by e-mail to the embassy or consulate. Mandatory worldwide Interim Student and Exchange Authentication System compliance will commence on October 11, 2002.

The Enhanced Border Security and Visa Reform Act of 2002 requires that a transitional student and exchange visitor tracking program involving electronic data sharing between schools and sponsors, the Department of State and the Immigration and Naturalization Service, be operational by September 11, 2002, and remain in operation until the Immigration and Naturalization Service’s Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) is fully operational.  The Act also requires that approved institutions or designated exchange program sponsors electronically transmit, via website at www.iseas.state.gov, evidence of student or exchange visitor acceptance to the Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs while the system is operational.  

The interim system is designed to contain data on F, J or M non-immigrant visa applicants for which acceptance data have been submitted. The data will then be reviewed by consular officers prior to visa issuance in order to determine the applicants’ acceptance status.  This will also affect students/exchange visitors applying for visas to return to programs they had begun prior to September 11, 2002.  

Visa issuance data on F, J and M non-immigrant categories will be transmitted to the Immigration and Naturalization Service as part of the non-immigrant visa data regularly shared by the Department of State.  

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