She now faces the difficult choice of seeking a risky reinstatement or leaving the country.
A senior student in the US now finds her future uncertain after her SEVIS status was terminated, blocking her hopes of staying on to work after graduation. The issue began when her university assigned her to online classes, unintentionally breaking a key F-1 visa rule. The situation exposes how one administrative mistake can derail an international student’s American dream.
The problem began when the student's college registered her for online courses for her final semester. F-1 visa holders must carefully maintain their status, including taking the required number of in-person credits. After being placed in too many online courses, she fell short of the mandatory 9 in-person credits. As a result, her SEVIS record was terminated. The issue was further complicated by a DSO change at her university, which may have caused the slip.
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To understand her predicament, one must know about SEVIS. The Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) is the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's online portal that tracks and monitors all international students on F-1 and M-1 visas. It is the official record of a student's legal standing in the country. SEVP administers SEVIS to safeguard national security while facilitating the lawful stay of over a million international students. When a SEVIS record is terminated, the student's legal immigration status ends immediately.
The student had planned to apply for Optional Practical Training (OPT), which lets graduates work in their field for up to a year. But with her SEVIS terminated, she no longer qualifies. Her only option now is “reinstatement,” a complicated process with no assured outcome. As the student revealed on Reddit, “I’m graduating after this semester ends, so if I reinstate, I’ll have to do a Master’s, but even doing that is still risky because I don’t know if my reinstatement will get approved or not.”
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The student's post on Reddit sparked reactions from others who have faced similar bureaucratic nightmares. One user strongly advised leaving the country, sharing their own experience: “From the time it got terminated, to me leaving the country it took 7 days... the burden of staying in the states legally is on the Non-immigrant.” Another user offered a grim outlook on her reinstatement chances, noting, “reinstatement is reserved for cases that it was beyond the student control. Taking too many online classes... was not outside your control. Therefore, it will be hard to argue your case.”
