Homeland Security
Performance of Foreign Student and Exchange Visitor Information System Continues to Improve, But Issues Remain Gao ID: GAO-05-440T March 17, 2005The Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) is an Internet-based system run by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to collect and record information on foreign students, exchange visitors, and their dependents--before they enter the United States, when they enter, and during their stay. GAO has reported (GAO-04-690) that although the system had a number of performance problems during the first year that its use was required, several SEVIS performance indicators were positive at that time (June 2004). Nonetheless, some problems were still being reported by educational organizations. In addition, concerns have been raised that the number of international students and exchange visitors coming to the United States has been negatively affected by the U.S. visa process. Accordingly, the Congress asked GAO to testify on its work on SEVIS and related issues. This testimony is based on its June 2004 report, augmented by more recent GAO work, reports that we issued in February 2004 and 2005 on student and visiting scholar visa processing, and related recent research by others.
Indications are that SEVIS performance has improved and continues to improve. In June 2004, GAO reported improvement based on several indicators, including reports showing that certain key system performance requirements were being met, trends showing a decline in new requests for system corrections, and the views of officials representing 10 educational organizations. DHS attributed this performance improvement to a number of actions, such as installation of a series of new software releases and increased Help Desk staffing and training. However, GAO also reported that several key system performance requirements were not being formally measured, so that DHS might not be able to identify serious system problems in time to address them before they could affect the successful accomplishment of SEVIS objectives. Further, some educational organizations were still experiencing problems, particularly with regard to Help Desk support. GAO also reported that educational organizations were concerned about proposed options for collecting SEVIS fees. Accordingly, it made recommendations aimed at improving system performance measurement and resolving educational organizations' Help Desk and fee concerns. Since June 2004, DHS reports that it has taken steps to address GAO recommendations, and in particular it has taken a number of actions to strengthen Help Desk support. Moreover, educational organizations generally agree that SEVIS performance has continued to improve, and that their past fee collection concerns have been alleviated. However, these educational organizations still cite residual Help Desk problems, which they believe create hardships for students and exchange visitors. Most of these organizations, however, do not believe that SEVIS is the reason for the declining number of international students and exchange visitors coming to the United States. These declining numbers were cited in a recent report by the Council of Graduate Schools, which describes declines in foreign graduate student applications, admissions, and enrollments between 2003 and 2004, and further declines in these applications between 2004 and 2005. The report attributes the decline to increased global competition and changed visa policies. In this regard, GAO recently reported on the State Department's efforts to address its prior recommendations for improving the Visas Mantis program (under which interagency security checks are performed to identify applicants who may pose a threat to national security by illegally transferring sensitive technology). According to this report, a combination of federal agency steps resulted in a significant decline in Visas Mantis processing times and in the number of cases pending more than 60 days. The Council of Graduate Schools' report also recognizes the recent Visas Mantis program changes as positive steps.
GAO-05-440T, Homeland Security: Performance of Foreign Student and Exchange Visitor Information System Continues to Improve, But Issues Remain
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United States Government Accountability Office:
GAO:
Testimony:
Before Congressional Subcommittees:
For Release on Delivery:
Expected at 10:00 a.m., EST Thursday, March 17, 2005:
Homeland Security:
Performance of Foreign Student and Exchange Visitor Information System
Continues to Improve, but Issues Remain:
Joint Statement of Randolph C. Hite, Director, Information Technology
Architecture and Systems Issues, and Jess T. Ford, Director,
International Affairs and Trade:
GAO-05-440T:
GAO Highlights:
Highlights of GAO-05-440T, a testimony before the Subcommittee on 21st
Century Competitiveness and the Subcommittee on Select Education,
Committee on Education and the Workforce, House of Representatives:
Why GAO Did This Study:
The Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) is an
Internet-based system run by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
to collect and record information on foreign students, exchange
visitors, and their dependents”before they enter the United States,
when they enter, and during their stay. GAO has reported (GAO-04-690)
that although the system had a number of performance problems during
the first year that its use was required, several SEVIS performance
indicators were positive at that time (June 2004). Nonetheless, some
problems were still being reported by educational organizations.
In addition, concerns have been raised that the number of international
students and exchange visitors coming to the United States has been
negatively affected by the U.S. visa process. Accordingly, the Congress
asked GAO to testify on its work on SEVIS and related issues. This
testimony is based on its June 2004 report, augmented by more recent
GAO work, reports that we issued in February 2004 and 2005 on student
and visiting scholar visa processing, and related recent research by
others.
What GAO Found:
Indications are that SEVIS performance has improved and continues to
improve. In June 2004, GAO reported improvement based on several
indicators, including reports showing that certain key system
performance requirements were being met, trends showing a decline in
new requests for system corrections, and the views of officials
representing 10 educational organizations. DHS attributed this
performance improvement to a number of actions, such as installation of
a series of new software releases and increased Help Desk staffing and
training.
However, GAO also reported that several key system performance
requirements were not being formally measured, so that DHS might not be
able to identify serious system problems in time to address them before
they could affect the successful accomplishment of SEVIS objectives.
Further, some educational organizations were still experiencing
problems, particularly with regard to Help Desk support. GAO also
reported that educational organizations were concerned about proposed
options for collecting SEVIS fees. Accordingly, it made recommendations
aimed at improving system performance measurement and resolving
educational organizations‘ Help Desk and fee concerns.
Since June 2004, DHS reports that it has taken steps to address GAO
recommendations, and in particular it has taken a number of actions to
strengthen Help Desk support. Moreover, educational organizations
generally agree that SEVIS performance has continued to improve, and
that their past fee collection concerns have been alleviated. However,
these educational organizations still cite residual Help Desk problems,
which they believe create hardships for students and exchange visitors.
Most of these organizations, however, do not believe that SEVIS is the
reason for the declining number of international students and exchange
visitors coming to the United States.
These declining numbers were cited in a recent report by the Council of
Graduate Schools, which describes declines in foreign graduate student
applications, admissions, and enrollments between 2003 and 2004, and
further declines in these applications between 2004 and 2005. The
report attributes the decline to increased global competition and
changed visa policies. In this regard, GAO recently reported on the
State Department‘s efforts to address its prior recommendations for
improving the Visas Mantis program (under which interagency security
checks are performed to identify applicants who may pose a threat to
national security by illegally transferring sensitive technology).
According to this report, a combination of federal agency steps
resulted in a significant decline in Visas Mantis processing times and
in the number of cases pending more than 60 days. The Council of
Graduate Schools‘ report also recognizes the recent Visas Mantis
program changes as positive steps.
www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-05-440T.
To view the full product, including the scope and methodology, click on
the link above. For more information, contact Randolph C. Hite at (202)
512-3439 or hiter@gao.gov.
[End of section]
Messrs. Chairmen and Members of the Subcommittees:
We appreciate the opportunity to participate in the Subcommittees'
hearing on the federal government's progress in tracking international
students in higher education. As you know, a central component of this
tracking is the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System
(SEVIS), an Internet-based system run by the Department of Homeland
Security (DHS) to collect and record information on foreign students,
exchange visitors, and their dependents--before they enter the United
States, when they enter, and during their stay. The system, which is
the focus of our testimony, began operating in July 2002, and DHS
required its use for all new and continuing foreign students and
exchange visitors beginning in August 2003.
SEVIS automates the manual, paper-intensive processes that schools and
exchange programs had been using to manage and report information about
foreign students and exchange visitors. With SEVIS, schools and program
sponsors can transmit information electronically to DHS and the
Department of State. The system's two main objectives are:
* to support the oversight and enforcement of laws and regulations
concerning foreign students, exchange visitors, and schools, as well as
sponsors of exchange visitor programs who are authorized by the
government to issue eligibility documents, and:
* to improve DHS's processing of foreign students and exchange visitors
at ports of entry, through streamlined procedures and modernized data
capture.
Our testimony today is based on a report that we issued in June
2004[Footnote 1] on SEVIS performance, augmented by our recent work to
determine DHS efforts to strengthen system performance since that
report, reports that we issued in February 2004 and 2005 on student and
visiting scholar visa processing,[Footnote 2] and related recent
research by others.
All work related to our testimony was conducted in accordance with
generally accepted government auditing standards. Our SEVIS work was
performed at DHS and State headquarters in Washington, D.C., and at 10
educational organizations,[Footnote 3] from December 2003 through March
2004; we also conducted follow-up work at DHS Headquarters and 6 of the
10 educational organizations in March 2005.[Footnote 4] Our work on
student and visiting scholar visa processing was performed from May
2003 through January 2004, and July 2004 through February 2005 at
several locations: DHS, State, and Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI) headquarters in Washington, D.C; and U.S. embassies and
consulates in China, India, Russia, and Ukraine.
Results in Brief:
After a number of problems during the first year that its use was
required, SEVIS performance improved. As we reported last year, a
number of indicators of how well SEVIS was performing were positive. In
particular, DHS reports relating to certain system performance
requirements[Footnote 5] showed that some key requirements were being
met. Also, our analysis of new system change requests[Footnote 6]
during the first year of required use, the majority of which related to
fixing system problems, showed that the number of new requests was
steadily declining. Further, the consensus among officials representing
10 educational organizations that we spoke to was that system
performance had improved. At that time, DHS attributed this performance
improvement to a number of actions, such as installation of a series of
new software releases and increased Help Desk staffing and training.
However, we also reported that several key system performance
requirements were not being formally measured, and that by not
measuring them, DHS was not adequately positioned to know sooner rather
than later of system problems that could jeopardize accomplishment of
SEVIS objectives. Further, we reported that, despite DHS actions,
educational organizations were still experiencing problems,
particularly with regard to Help Desk support,[Footnote 7] and we
reported that although collection of a SEVIS fee had been required
since 1996, it was still not being collected, and educational
organizations were concerned about proposed fee collection options.
Accordingly, we made recommendations aimed at improving system
performance measurement and resolving educational organizations'
performance issues and fee concerns.
Over the last year, DHS reports that it has taken steps to address our
recommendations, particularly with regard to strengthening Help Desk
support. Moreover, educational organizations generally agree that SEVIS
performance has continued to improve, and that their past fee
collection concerns have been alleviated. However, despite DHS actions,
these educational organizations still cite residual Help Desk problems,
which they believe create hardships for students and exchange visitors.
Most of these organizations, however, do not believe that SEVIS is the
reason for the declining number of international students and exchange
visitors coming to the United States.
A recent report by the Council of Graduate Schools cites declines in
U.S. international graduate school applications, admissions, and
enrollments between 2003 and 2004, and further declines in these
applications between 2004 and 2005.[Footnote 8] The report attributes
the decline to increased global competition and changed visa policies.
We recently reported on the State Department's efforts to address our
prior recommendations for improving the Visas Mantis program, an
interagency security check that often affects foreign science students
and scholars applying for visas to come to the United States.In
particular, we reported that a combination of federal agency steps had
resulted in a significant decline in Visas Mantis processing times and
in the number of Mantis cases pending more than 60 days. The Council of
Graduate Schools' report also recognizes the recent Visas Mantis
program changes as positive steps.
Background:
Within DHS's Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) organization,
the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) is responsible for
certifying schools to accept foreign students in academic and
vocational programs and for managing SEVIS. Schools and exchange
programs were required to start using SEVIS for new students and
exchange visitors beginning February 15, 2003, and for all continuing
students and exchange visitors beginning August 1, 2003.[Footnote 9]
The following tables show the number of active students, exchange
visitors, and institutions registered in SEVIS as of February 28, 2005.
Table 1: Number of Active Students and Exchange Visitors in SEVIS:
Category[A]: F visa holders;
Number: 605,664;
Percent: 80%.
Category[A]: M visa holders;
Number: 3,853;
Percent: 1%.
Category[A]: J visa holders;
Number: 142,901;
Percent: 19%.
Category[A]: Total active students and exchange visitors registered in
SEVIS[B];
Number: 752,418;
Percent: 100%.
Source: DHS.
[A] F visas are for academic study at 2-and 4-year colleges and
universities and other academic institutions; M visas are for
nonacademic study at institutions, such as vocational and technical
schools; and J visas for participation in exchange programs. SEVIS
manages information for foreign students and exchange visitors having
any of these types of visas (8 U.S.C. § 1101 (a) (15)).
[B] State commented that some persons enrolled in SEVIS are not issued
visas, and other persons may have more than one SEVIS record.
[End of table]
Table 2: Number of Institutions in SEVIS:
Category: Technical schools, colleges, and universities;
Number: 7,984;
Percent: 85%.
Category: Exchange visitor programs;
Number: 1,453;
Percent: 15%.
Category: Institutions in SEVIS;
Number: 9437;
Percent: 100%.
Source: DHS.
[End of table]
SEVP is also responsible for providing program policies and plans;
performing program analysis; and conducting communications, outreach,
and training. Regarding SEVIS, SEVP is responsible for identifying and
prioritizing system requirements, performing system release management,
monitoring system performance, and correcting data errors.
The Office of Information Resource Management, also part of ICE,
manages the information technology infrastructure (that is, hardware
and system software) on which the SEVIS application software is hosted.
It also manages the SEVIS Help Desk and the systems life cycle process
for the system, including system operations and maintenance.
The software for the SEVIS application runs on a system infrastructure
that supports multiple DHS Internet-based applications. The
infrastructure includes common services, such as application servers,
Web servers, database servers, and network connections. SEVIS shares
five application servers and two Web servers with two other
applications.
To assist system users, the SEVIS Help Desk was established, which
provides three levels of support, known as tiers:
* Tier 1 provides initial end-user troubleshooting and resolution of
technical problems.
* Tier 2 provides escalation and resolution support for Tier 1, and
makes necessary changes to the database (data fixes).
* Tier 3 addresses the resolution of policy and procedural issues, and
also makes data fixes.[Footnote 10]
SEVP uses a contractor to operate Tiers 1 and 2. Both the contractor
and the program office operate Tier 3. According to an SEVP official,
contactor staff for Tiers 1 through 3 include the following: Tier 1 has
21 staff, Tier 2 has 6 staff, and Tier 3 has 13 staff.
Data are entered into SEVIS through one of two methods:
* Real-time interface (i.e., an individual manually enters a single
student/exchange visitor record) or:
* Batch processing (i.e., several student/exchange visitor records are
uploaded to SEVIS at one time using vendor-provided software or
software created by the school/exchange visitor program).
SEVIS Data and Users:
SEVIS collects a variety of data that are used by schools, exchange
visitor programs, and DHS and State Department organizations to oversee
foreign students, exchange visitors, and the schools and exchange
visitor programs themselves. Data collected include information on
students, exchange visitors, schools, and exchange visitor programs.
For example,
* biographical information (e.g., student or exchange visitor's name,
place and date of birth, and dependents' information),
* academic information (e.g., student or exchange visitor's status,
date of study commencement, degree program, field of study, and
institution disciplinary action),
* school information (e.g., campus address, type of education or
degrees offered, and session dates);
* exchange visitor program information (e.g., status and type of
program, responsible program officials, and program duration).
SEVIS data are also used by a variety of users. Table 3 provides
examples of users and how each uses the data.
Table 3: Examples of How Data Are Used by Different Types of Users:
Users: DHS users: ICE and CIS[A] personnel;
How data are used: Certify schools' applications to use SEVIS and
reinstate students.
Users: DHS users: Port of entry inspectors;
How data are used: Admit foreign students and exchange visitors into
the United States at the ports of entry.
Users: DHS users: Intelligence officers;
How data are used: Conduct analyses and research regarding student and
exchange visitors who may be out of status, and schools and exchange
programs that may be in violation of program rules.
Users: DHS users: Intelligence officers;
How data are used: Determine if agents should take corrective actions
against individuals, schools, or exchange visitor programs.
Users: DHS users: Intelligence officers;
How data are used: Identify patterns of criminal activity, including
terrorism, narcotics, alien smuggling, trade fraud, weapons
proliferation, and money laundering, as well as immigration fraud.
Users: DHS users: Investigators;
How data are used: Conduct analyses and research regarding student and
exchange visitors who may be out of status, and schools and exchange
visitor programs that may be in violation of program rules.
Users: DHS users: Investigators;
How data are used: Identify possible status violators and contact them
to determine if they are in fact in violation; pass on valid leads to
agents for enforcement activities. According to Office of
Investigations officials, they have received about 31,000 leads from
SEVIS since the summer of 2003.
Users: Department of State users: State consular officers;
How data are used: Compare information on the hard copy I-20[B] or DS-
2019,c such as the applicant's name, date and place of birth, and SEVIS
identification number, against information that has been automatically
extracted from SEVIS to State's Consolidated Consular Database to issue
visas.
Users: Department of State users: Exchange visitor program designation
personnel;
How data are used: Administer exchange program rules and regulations in
order to approve designation applications, including inputting certain
actions for exchange visitors such as reinstatement, change of
category, and extension beyond the maximum duration of the stay. Enter
information on the receipt of applications, fees, and requested
information.
Users: Schools and exchange visitor program users: Principal designated
official;
How data are used: Submits and updates the school's certification
application and adds, removes, or replaces other users for the school.
Creates and updates student eligibility records.
Users: Schools and exchange visitor program users: Responsible officer;
How data are used: Submits and updates the exchange program's
certification application and adds, removes, or replaces other users
for the program. Creates and updates exchange visitor eligibility
records.
Source: DHS.
[A] Citizenship and Immigration Services.
[B] Form I-20A-B: Certificate of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant (F-1)
Student Status--for Academic and Language Students or Form I-20M-N:
Certificate of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant (M-1) Student Status--for
Vocational Students.
[C] Form DS-2019: Certificate of Eligibility for Exchange Visitor (J-
1) Status.
[End of table]
Following Significant Early Challenges, SEVIS Performance Improved, but
Problems Remained:
In 2002 and 2003, when SEVIS first began operating and was first
required to be used, significant problems were reported. For example,
colleges, universities, and exchange programs could not gain access to
the system, and when access was obtained, these users' sessions would
"time out" before they could complete their tasks. In June 2004, we
reported that several performance indicators showed that SEVIS
performance was improving. These indicators included system performance
reports, requests for system changes to address problems, and feedback
from educational organizations representing school and exchange
programs. Each indicator is discussed below.
Some Key System Requirements Were Being Met, but Not All Were Being
Measured:
Whether defined system requirements are being met is one indicator of
system performance. In June 2004, we reported that performance reports
showed that some, but not all, key system requirements were being
measured, and that these measured requirements were being met. Table 4
shows examples of key system performance requirements.
Table 4: Examples of Performance Requirements:
Type: System availability[A];
Requirement: Be available 99.5 percent of the time to all users 24
hours a day, 7 days a week, excluding scheduled downtime.
Type: Response time;
Requirement: Return a record in less than 10 seconds in response to a
query using the identification number. (Time is measured from
application server to database and back to application server.)
Type: Capacity;
Requirement: Create at least 5,000,000 new records per year, store at
least 12,500,000 eligibility records, and handle at least 7,500,000
record updates per year.
Type: Resource usage;
Requirement: Identify when usage exceeds 50 percent of allocated
resources for (1) central processing unit, (2) disk space, (3) random
access memory, and (4) network usage.
Source: DHS.
[A] System availability is defined as the time the system is operating
satisfactorily, expressed as a percentage of time that the system is
required to be operational.
[End of table]
However, we also reported that not all key performance requirements
were being adequately measured. For example, reports used to measure
system availability measured the time that the system infrastructure
[Footnote 11] was successfully connected to the network. While these
reports can be used to identify problems that could affect the system
availability, they do not fully measure SEVIS availability. Instead,
they measure the availability of the communications software on the
application servers. This means that the SEVIS application could still
be unavailable even though the communications software is available.
Similarly, program officials stated that they used a central processing
unit activity report to measure resource usage. However, this report
focuses on the shared infrastructure environment, which supports SEVIS
and two other applications, and does not specifically measure SEVIS-
related central processing performance. Program officials did not
provide any reports that measured performance against other resource
usage requirements, such as random access memory and network usage.
Program officials acknowledged that some key performance requirements
were not formally measured and stated that they augmented these formal
performance measurement reports with other, less formal measures, such
as browsing the daily Help Desk logs to determine if there were serious
performance problems requiring system changes or modifications, as well
as using the system themselves on a continuous basis. According to
these officials, a combination of formal performance reports and less
formal performance monitoring efforts gave them a sufficient picture of
how well SEVIS was performing. Further, program officials stated that
they were exploring additional tools to monitor system performance. For
example, they stated that they were in the process of implementing a
new tool to capture the availability of the SEVIS application, and that
they planned to begin using it by the end of April 2004.
However, unless DHS formally monitored and documented all key system
performance requirements, we concluded that the department could not
adequately assure itself that potential system problems were identified
and addressed early, before they had a chance to become larger problems
that could affect the DHS mission objectives that SEVIS supports.
Trends in Reported System Problems Indicated Improved Performance:
Another indicator of how well a system is performing is the number and
significance of reported problems or requests for system enhancements.
For SEVIS, a system change request (SCR) is created when a change is
required to the system. Each of the change requests is assigned a
priority of critical, high, medium, or low, as defined in table 5.
Table 5: Definitions of Priority Levels:
Priority: Critical;
Description: System capability is significantly prevented, seriously
degraded, or compromised.[A].
Priority: High;
Description: System capability is significantly degraded, or the
potential exists for significant or serious impact on the system, but
the problem does not necessarily impede the system from functioning.
Priority: Medium;
Description: System capability is affected, but it is not a serious
degradation in performance or usability.
Priority: Low;
Description: Problem causes only an inconvenience, annoyance, or lack
of user-friendliness, or the request is a recommended change for future
releases.
Source: DHS.
[A] According to program officials, SCRs may be upgraded to critical or
high priority, without regard to system capability, for practical and
policy considerations, because the priority assigned affects the
inclusion of an SCR in a system change.
[End of table]
Each change request is also categorized by the type, such as changes to
correct system errors, enhance or modify the system, or improve system
performance.
In June 2004, we reported that the number of critical or high priority
change requests that were created between January 2003 and February
2004 was decreasing. Similarly, we reported that the trends in the
number of new change requests that were to correct system errors had
decreased for that same period. Over this period, the number of
corrective fixes requested each month between January 2003 and February
2004 decreased, with the most dramatic decrease in the first 7 months.
Figure 1 shows the decreasing trend in SEVIS new corrective change
requests between January 2003 and February 2004.
Figure 1: Decreasing Trend in New Corrective SCRs between January 2003
and February 2004:
[See PDF for image]
[End of figure]
Educational Organizations Reported that System Performance Improved,
but Identified Residual Problems Despite DHS Efforts to Address Them:
A third indicator of performance is user feedback. According to
representatives of educational organizations, overall SEVIS performance
at the time of our report had improved since the system began operating
and its use was required, and the program's outreach and responsiveness
were good. In addition, these representatives told us that they were no
longer experiencing earlier reported problems, which involved user
access to the system, the system's timing out before users could
complete their tasks, and merging data from one school or exchange
visitor program with data from another.
However, seven new problem types were identified by at least 3 of the
10 organizations, and three of the seven problems were related to Help
Desk performance. Table 6 shows the problems and the number of
organizations that identified them.
Table 6: SEVIS Problems Identified by Organizations:
Problem: 1. Inability to download data so that users could manipulate
it themselves and create useful reports;
Organizations citing problem: 7;
Example: A user needed a report showing the number of students who are
registered for training outside the school in which they are enrolled.
However, SEVIS allows a user to view only 20 such records at a time,
and because her school had over 800 foreign students, she had to run
the SEVIS report repeatedly to get the full list.
Problem: 2. Slow Tier 2 and 3 Help Desk responses;
Organizations citing problem: 7;
Example: A correction to a student's status took 6 weeks to fix.
Problem: 3. Incomplete record updates in the nightly transmission from
SEVIS to the Consolidated Consular Database;
Organizations citing problem: 6;
Example: A foreign visitor was denied a visa at the consulate because
the birth date on the hard copy form did not match the birth date in
the automated record.
Problem: 4. Inconsistent Help Desk answers to technical questions;
Organizations citing problem: 5;
Example: A user received varying Help Desk responses for how to record
multiple training records for a student.
Problem: 5. Incorrect Help Desk answers to policy questions;
Organizations citing problem: 3;
Example: A user was told that she did not need to sign a student's I-
20[A] for travel purposes, but the signature was required at the port
of entry.
Problem: 6. Insufficient identification of schools in SEVIS pull-down
menus for transfer purposes;
Organizations citing problem: 3;
Example: A user attempting to transfer a student to a college in
Arizona erroneously selected a college in California with a similar
name.
Problem: 7. Unexplained data differences in SEVIS;
Organizations citing problem: 3;
Example: A user entered data and printed a form showing the correct
information. Subsequently the data were found to be different in SEVIS.
Source: GAO analysis of organization data.
[A] Certificate of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant Student Status.
[End of table]
At the time of our report, DHS had taken a number of steps to identify
and solve system problems, including problems identified by educational
organizations. In particular, DHS steps to identify problems included:
* holding biweekly internal performance meetings and weekly technical
meetings,
* holding biweekly [Footnote 12] conference calls with representatives
from educational organizations,
* establishing special e-mail accounts to report user problems, and:
* having user groups test new releases.
Further, DHS cited actions intended to address six of the seven types
of problems identified by the educational organizations. These included
releases of new versions of SEVIS and increases in Help Desk training
and staffing. These officials also stated that they were evaluating
potential solutions to the remaining problem.
Table 7 shows the problem types, the number of organizations that
identified them, and DHS's actions taken to address each.
Table 7: DHS Actions to Address User Problems:
Problem: 1. Inability to download data so that users could manipulate
it themselves and create useful reports;
Organizations citing problem: 7;
DHS actions: Software options to extract user requested data, provide
summary reports, and perform statistical analyses were being evaluated.
Problem: 2. Slow Tier 2 and 3 Help Desk responses;
Organizations citing problem: 7;
DHS actions: In March 2003, Tier 2 staffing increased from 8 to 9
people, and Tier 3 staffing increased from 5 to 8 people.
Problem: 3. Incomplete record updates in the nightly transmission sent
from SEVIS to the Consolidated Consular Database;
Organizations citing problem: 6;
DHS actions: On January 2, 2004, a software change was implemented in
Release 4.8.
Problem: 4. Inconsistent Help Desk answers to technical questions;
Organizations citing problem: 5;
DHS actions: Since June 2002, training is provided to Help Desk staff
every time a new release is implemented or a major workaround is
devised.
Problem: 5. Incorrect Help Desk answers to policy questions;
Organizations citing problem: 3;
DHS actions: Since June 2002, training is provided to Help Desk staff
every time a new release is implemented or a major workaround is
devised.
Problem: 6. Insufficient identification of schools in SEVIS pull-down
menus for transfer purposes;
Organizations citing problem: 3;
DHS actions: Since July 2003, the list of school codes needed in SEVIS
has been available on the DHS Web site, with the schools identified by
city and state.
Problem: 7. Unexplained data differences in SEVIS;
Organizations citing problem: 3;
DHS actions: On May 11, 2003, a software change was implemented in
Release 4.6.2.
Source: GAO and DHS.
[End of table]
Despite DHS actions, educational organizations told us that some
problems persisted. For example:
* Although the program office increased Help Desk staffing in March
2003, representatives from seven organizations stated that slow Tier 2
and 3 Help Desk responses were still a problem. In response, program
officials stated that the majority of calls handled by Tiers 2 and 3
involve data fixes that are a direct result of end-user error, and that
fixing them is sometimes delayed until end-users submit documentation
reflecting the nature of the data fix needed and the basis for the
change.
* Although the program office began in June 2002 providing training to
Help Desk staff each time a new SEVIS release was implemented,
representatives from 5 of the 10 organizations stated that the quality
of the Help Desk's response to technical and policy questions remained
a problem. According to program officials, Help Desk response is
complicated by variations in user platforms and end-user knowledge of
computers. The officials added that the program office is working to
educate SEVIS users on the distinction between platform problems and
problems resulting from SEVIS. Further, they said that Help Desk
responses may be complicated by the caller's failure to provide
complete information regarding the problem. Program officials also
stated that supervisors frequently review Help Desk tickets to ensure
the accuracy of responses, and these reviews had not surfaced any
continuing problems in the quality of the responses.
SEVIS Fee Was Not Being Collected, and Educational Organizations Were
Concerned about Fee Payment Options:
Various legislation[Footnote 13] requires that a fee be collected from
each foreign student and exchange visitor to cover the costs of
administering and maintaining SEVIS, as well as SEVP operations. In
2004, we reported that 7 years had passed since collection of the fee
was required, and thus millions of dollars in revenue had been and
would continue to be lost until the fee was actually collected. We also
reported that representatives of the educational organizations were
concerned with the fee payment options being considered because the
options were either not available to all students in developing
countries, or they would result in significant delays to an already
lengthy visa application and review process, and increase the risk that
paper receipts would be lost or stolen.
As we then reported, DHS's submission of its fee collection rule went
to the Office of Management and Budget in February 2004, and it
received final clearance in May 2004. The final rule,[Footnote 14]
which was effective on September 1, 2004, (1) set the fee at $100 for
nonimmigrant students and exchange visitors and no more than $35 for
those J-1 visa-holders who are au pairs, camp counselors, or
participants in a summer work/travel program, and (2) identified
options for students and exchange visitors to pay the fee, including:
* by mail using a check or money order drawn on a U.S. bank and payable
in U.S. dollars or:
* electronically through the Internet using a credit card.
According to DHS officials, another option for paying the SEVIS fee
permits exchange visitor programs to make bulk payments to DHS on
behalf of J visa-holders.
DHS Continues to Take Steps to Address Our Recommendations:
To help strengthen SEVIS performance and address educational
organizations' concerns, our report recommended that DHS:
* assess the extent to which defined SEVIS performance requirements are
still relevant and are being formally managed;
* provide for the measurement of key performance requirements that are
not being formally measured;
* assess educational organization Help Desk concerns and take
appropriate action to address these concerns; and:
* provide for the expeditious implementation of the results of the
SEVIS fee rulemaking process.
According to program officials, a number of steps have been taken
relative to our recommendations, and other steps are under way. For
example, program officials stated that they have established a working
group to assess the relevance of the requirements in the SEVIS
requirements document. The working group is expected to provide its
recommendations for changing this document by the end of March 2005.
The changed requirements will then form the basis for measuring system
performance.
Program officials also stated that they are in the process of selecting
tools for monitoring system performance and have established a working
group to define ways to measure SEVIS's satisfaction of its two main
objectives, relating to oversight and enforcement of relevant laws and
regulations and to improvement in port of entry processing of students
and visitors. In this regard, they said that they have begun to monitor
the number of false positives between SEVIS and the Arrival Departure
Information System[Footnote 15] to target improvements for future
system releases.
Program officials also reported that they are taking steps to address
Help Desk concerns. For example, they said that they continue to hold
bi-weekly meetings with educational organizations and directly monitor
select Help Desk calls. They also said that Tier 1 Help Desk staffing
recently increased by five staff, and the knowledge-based tool used by
the Help Desk representatives to respond to caller inquiries had been
updated, including ensuring that the tool's response scripts are
consistent with SEVP policy. Additionally, these officials stated that
they are reaching out to the Department of State to more quickly
resolve certain system data errors (commonly referred to as data
fixes),[Footnote 16] and said that a process has been established to
ensure that high-priority change requests are examined to ensure
correct priority designation and timely resolution. As of January 1,
2005, SEVP also established new performance level agreements with its
Help Desk contractor, and it has been receiving weekly Help Desk
reports to monitor performance against these agreements.
DHS also began collecting the SEVIS fee in September 2004.
Additionally, it introduced another payment option, effective November
1, 2004, whereby students can pay the fee using Western Union. This
method allows foreign students to pay in local currency, rather than
U.S. dollars. Program officials also stated that DHS has developed a
direct interface between the payment systems and SEVIS and the State
Department's Consolidated Consular Database (CCD).[Footnote 17]
According to these officials, this allows the consular officer to
verify without delay that the visa applicant has, in fact, paid the
SEVIS fee before completing the visa issuance process.
SEVIS Educational Organizations Report That Performance Continues to
Improve, but Some Problems Still Persist:
According to representatives of educational organizations, overall
SEVIS performance continues to improve. We contacted 6 of the 10
organizations that were part of our 2004 report on SEVIS performance,
and representatives for all six organizations told us that SEVIS
performance has generally continued to improve. In addition, five of
the organizations stated that there were no new system performance
problems. All of the organizations stated that they did not have any
concerns with the SEVIS fee implementation.
However, most representatives stated that some previously reported
problems still exist. For example, representatives from five of the six
organizations stated that slow Tier 2 and 3 Help Desk responses in
correcting errors in student and exchange visitor records were still a
problem. Three representatives stated that these corrections can take
months, and in some cases even years, to fix. Two of the three stated
that this has a major impact on the individuals involved. One
organization reported that some exchange visitors' records have been
erroneously terminated, and as a result, the visitors' families are
unable to join them in the United States until a data fix occurs.
According to the representative, this creates a very difficult
situation for the individuals and makes it difficult to retain them in
their academic programs. A representative for another organization
reported that two participants' records erroneously indicate that they
have violated their status as exchange visitors. Were these individuals
to leave the country to visit their families before a data fix is made,
they would be denied re-entry.
In addition, representatives from three organizations stated that they
were still experiencing problems with downloading and manipulating data
from SEVIS. For example, one representative reported an inability to
pull reports on the exact number of exchange visitors in its program
and their status. This person expressed concern because DHS holds
schools and programs accountable for tracking exchange visitors, but
then does not give them the tools necessary to do so. Further,
representatives from two organizations stated that they were still
experiencing problems with incorrect Help Desk responses. For example,
one representative reported that he was erroneously told by a Help Desk
employee that there was no need to correct an individual's record of
training, yet another Help Desk employee correctly stated that a fix
was needed and gave detailed instructions on how to make the
correction.
Last, representatives from all six organizations stated that there have
been declines in international students and exchange visitors coming to
the United States. However, representatives from four of the six stated
that SEVIS was not a factor, while representatives from the remaining
two stated that SEVIS was just one of many factors. Other factors cited
as contributing to this decline, which are discussed in the following
section, were a lengthy visa application process and increased
competition by other countries for students and exchange visitors.
Recent Report Cites U.S. Decline in International Graduate Students,
While Recognizing Recent Efforts to Improve Visa Processing for Science
Students and Scholars:
A recent Council of Graduate Schools report[Footnote 18] indicates that
foreign graduate student applications, admissions, and enrollments are
declining. According to the report, international graduate applications
to U.S. colleges and universities declined 28 percent from 2003 to
2004, resulting in an 18 percent fall in admissions and a 6 percent
drop in enrollments for the same period. In addition, while 2005 data
on admissions and enrollments were not yet available, the report cited
a 5 percent decline in applications between 2004 and 2005. According to
the report, the declines in 2004 and in 2005 were most prominent for
students from China and India. It also noted that between 2004 and 2005
applications were unchanged from Korea and up 6 percent from the Middle
East.
The report attributes this decline to two factors: increasing capacity
abroad and visa restrictions at home. According to the report,
countries in Europe and Asia are expanding their capacity at the
graduate level through government policy changes and recruitment of
international students. At the same time, the report says that the U.S.
government has tightened the visa process since September 11, 2001,
inadvertently discouraging international graduate students through new
security procedures and visa delays.
The Council of Graduate Schools also recognized recent federal actions
to improve the student visa process. These actions are directly related
to our work on the State Department's Visas Mantis program--an
interagency security check aimed at identifying those visa applicants
who may pose a threat to our national security by illegally
transferring sensitive technology. The program often affects foreign
science students and visiting scholars whose background or proposed
activity in the United States could involve exposure to technologies
that, if used against the United States, could potentially be harmful.
In February 2004, we reported and testified[Footnote 19] that there
were delays in the Visas Mantis program and interoperability problems
between the State Department and the FBI that contributed to these
delays and allowed Mantis cases to get lost. We determined that it took
an average of 67 days for Mantis checks to be processed and for State
to notify consular posts that the visa could be issued,[Footnote 20]
and that many Visas Mantis cases had been pending 60 days or more. We
also determined that consular staff at posts we visited were unsure
whether they were contributing to waits because they lacked clear
program guidance. Accordingly, we recommended that the State
Department, in coordination with DHS and the FBI, develop and implement
a plan to improve the Visas Mantis process.
In February 2005, we reported that Visas Mantis processing times had
declined significantly. For example, in November 2004, the average time
was about 15 days, far lower than the average of 67 days that we
reported previously. We also found that the number of Mantis cases
pending more than 60 days has dropped significantly. Our report
recognized a number of actions that contributed to these improvements
and addressed other issues that science students and scholars face in
traveling to the United States. These actions included adding staff to
process Mantis cases; defining a procedure to expedite certain cases;
providing additional guidance and feedback to consular posts;
developing an electronic tracking system for Mantis cases; clarifying
the roles and responsibilities of agencies involved in the Mantis
process; reiterating State's policy of giving students and scholars
priority scheduling for interview appointments; and extending the
validity of Mantis clearances.
Although we also identified opportunities for further refinements to
the Visas Mantis program, we believe that the actions outlined above
should allow foreign science students and scholars to obtain visas more
quickly and to travel more freely. We did not determine the effect of
these actions on the overall volume of international students traveling
to the United States. However, representatives from the academic and
international scientific community have indicated that they also
believe the actions will have a positive impact. For example, the
Association of American Universities identified the extension of Mantis
clearances as "a common-sense reform that removes an unnecessary burden
that caused enormous inconvenience for thousands of international
students and discouraged many more from coming here to study."
In closing, indications are that SEVIS performance has improved and
continues to improve, as has visa processing for foreign science
students and scholars. Moreover, recent SEVIS-related initiatives
demonstrate program officials' commitment to future improvements. This
commitment is important because educational organizations continue to
report some persistent system problems, primarily with respect to Help
Desk responsiveness in making certain "data fixes." These problems can
create hardships for foreign students and exchange visitors that can
potentially have unintended consequences relative to these foreign
students and exchange visitors applying to and enrolling in U.S.
learning institutions. Therefore, it is important for DHS to
effectively manage SEVIS performance against mission objectives and
outcomes, as well as against system requirements. To this end, we have
made several recommendations to DHS concerning SEVIS performance
management.
Messrs. Chairmen, this concludes our statement. We would be happy to
answer any questions that you or members of the subcommittees may have
at this time.
Contact and Acknowledgments:
If you should have any questions about this testimony, please contact
Randolph C. Hite at (202) 512-3439 or hiter@gao.gov, or Jess T. Ford at
(202) 512-4128 or fordj@gao.gov. Other major contributors to this
testimony included John Brummet, Barbara Collier, Deborah Davis,
Jamelyn Payan, and Elizabeth Singer.
FOOTNOTES
[1] GAO, Homeland Security: Performance of Information System to
Monitor Foreign Students and Exchange Visitors Has Improved, but Issues
Remain, GAO-04-690 (Washington, D.C.: June 18, 2004).
[2] GAO, Border Security: Improvements Needed to Reduce Time Taken to
Adjudicate Visas for Science Students and Scholars, GAO-04-371,
(Washington, D.C.: Feb. 25, 2004) and GAO, Border Security: Streamlined
Visas Mantis Program Has Lowered Burden on Foreign Science Students and
Scholars, but Further Refinements Needed, GAO-05-198 (Washington, D.C.:
Feb. 18, 2005).
[3] The 10 organizations were the Accrediting Council for Continuing
Education and Training, Alliance for International Educational and
Cultural Exchange, American Association of Collegiate Registrars,
American Association of Community Colleges, American Council of
Education, Association of American Universities, Association of
International Educators, Council for Standards for International
Educational Travel, Council of International Educational Exchange, and
the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges.
[4] The six organizations were the Accrediting Council for Continuing
Education and Training, American Association of Community Colleges,
Association of American Universities, Association of International
Educators, Council of International Educational Exchange, and the
National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges.
[5] Examples of performance requirements are (1) the system is to be
available 99.5 percent of the time to all users 24 hours a day, 7 days
a week, excluding scheduled downtime and (2) the time to respond to
user queries, as measured as the response time between the application
server and database, is to be less than 10 seconds.
[6] Change requests are used to track all system changes, including
corrections to erroneous system programming, as well as planned system
enhancements.
[7] The SEVIS Help Desk was established, among other things, to assist
system users by providing troubleshooting and resolution of technical
problems.
[8] Council of Graduate Schools, Findings from the 2005 CGS
International Graduate Admissions Survey I. We did not independently
verify the information in this report.
[9] According to program officials, SEVIS was available to certify
schools on July 1, 2002, and to register students on July 15, 2002.
According to State, SEVIS was available to exchange visitor programs in
October 2002.
[10] According to State, fixes to records of J visas are made at Tier 3
after it reviews and approves the changes.
[11] This infrastructure supports multiple DHS Internet-based
applications.
[12] The conference calls were being held weekly until January 2004.
[13] The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of
1996 (IIRIRA) first required that schools and exchange programs collect
the fee (Pub. L. 104-208, Div. C, Sept. 30, 1996). The Visa Waiver
Permanent Program Act (2000) amended IIRIRA to require that the
government collect the SEVIS fee (Pub. L. 106-396, Oct. 30, 2000).
[14] 69 Fed. Reg. 39814 (2004).
[15] The Arrival Departure Information System is a component of the
U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology system that
stores traveler arrival and departure data and provides query and
reporting information.
[16] According to State, fixes to records for J visas are made at Tier
3 after it reviews and approves the changes.
[17] CCD is used by consular officers to verify that the student or
exchange visitor has been accepted by a particular school or exchange
visitor program.
[18] Council of Graduate Schools, Findings from the 2005 CGS
International Graduate Admissions Survey 1. We did not independently
verify the data in this report.
[19] GAO, Border Security: Improvements Needed to Reduce Time Taken to
Adjudicate Visas for Science Students and Scholars, GAO-04-443T
(Washington, D.C.: Feb. 25, 2004).
[20] The average of 67 days was based on a random selection of Mantis
cases submitted to the State Department between April and June 2003.
