Thursday, January 6, 2011

What is SEVIS I-901 fee and How to Pay?


SEVIS I-901 fee, in short, SEVIS fee can be said to be the second important step in in the process of getting a student visa or exchange visitor visa. Every international student (with some exceptions) is required to pay SEVIS fee before he/she can apply for a student visa. For students requesting for F-1, F-3, M-1 or M-3 visa SEVIS fee is $200. If you are coming for a full time PhD you are requesting an F-1 visa aka student visa. Remember if you are required to pay the SEVIS I-901 fee and do not pay it, your visa application will be denied by Department of Security. SEVIS fee is used to maintain the track record of school and programs, students, exchange visitors and their dependents who are legally enrolled in US education system.

Knowing what is SEVIS fee, the next question is how to pay for it? In order to pay for a SEIVIS fee you will need I-20 document. On your I-20 document, SEVIS code starting with ‘N’ is located at the top right of page one above the barcode. You will need this code while paying for SEVIS fee. It’s also a good idea to have your Passport with you such that there is no mistake while entering the information about yourself in SEVIS form online. The most convenient way to pay SEVIS fee is through credit card. You can use your credit card (visa card or master card) to pay the SEVIS fee. The fee can be paid online following this link.

When you are paying the fee online makes sure you have a printer ready as you would need to take the print out when the form is completed. You cannot return to the page and print the coupon or payment receipt at a later time. If you have made a mistake in entering any information do not pay again, contact them and inform which information needs to be changed.

Once you have paid the fee it may take 2-3 business days for this payment to be verified and available in the system. You can check the status of your payment here. To check the status of your payment all you need is your SEVIS code, date of birth and your last name. Once this is done, you can proceed to the next step of visa application which is filling up the DS-160 form online.

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