Early in April, university staff in International Student and Scholar Services discovered successive numbers of international students with terminated SEVIS records and visa revocations.

A total of 22 graduate and undergraduate students, as well as some graduates, had their visas revoked and their SEVIS records terminated. The stated reasons include “failure to maintain nonimmigrant status” and/or criminal record check. Approximately half of the students are from China; the other half are from several countries, including India and the Middle East.

Read university leaders’ April 9 message to campus.

As of April 28, 21 international students at the University of Utah have had their visas reinstated.

Four of those students have already left the country and will need to reapply at their local consulates and embassies for new visas.

Staff from ISSS and The Graduate School have been in contact with international students and scholars to offer guidance for maintaining a student visa in good standing, safe travel tips and referrals to legal services.

A SEVIS (Student and Exchange Visitor Information System) record is a digital record maintained by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that tracks and monitors the status of non-immigrant students (F and M visa) and exchange visitors (J visa) in the United States.

The University of Utah has 3,733 F visa holders and 371 J visa holders. This includes OPT and STEM OPT—work programs for recent graduates.

For comparison, during the 2023-24 academic year, 167 students’ SEVIS records were cancelled—about a third of those (50) were for students’ authorized early withdrawals.

The federal government also is enforcing a new registration requirement for non-citizens and requiring non-citizens to carry evidence of registration.

For questions related to these requirements, students and scholars may reach out to ISSS by emailing international@utah.edu or calling 801-581-8876.

Residents and fellows may reach out to Graduate Medical Education, by emailing gme@hsc.utah.edu, or calling 801-581-2401.

Supervisors or managers can reach out to the Office of General Counsel or OGC, by emailing brian.christiansen@legal.utah.edu, or calling 801-585-7002.