Everything You Need to Know About Paying the SEVIS Fee for Your F1 Visa

If you’re contemplating learning within the USA, it’s essential to be acquainted with the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS). Managed by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), SEVIS serves a number of functions, together with sustaining details about SEVP-certified colleges, F1 and M1 visa holders and their dependents, alternate customer program candidates with J1 visas and their dependents, in addition to alternate customer program sponsors designated by the US Department of State.

Your SEVIS quantity will probably be assigned, and you have to hold it all through the applying course of. You’ll be monitored repeatedly from the time you obtain your Form I-20, which verifies that you simply’re enrolled legally beneath a program within the USA till you full your research. The Office of International Affairs manages the SEVIS document.

If you fall into any of the next classes, you’ll must pay the SEVIS payment of $350 (roughly INR 26,028) for an F1 visa:

• Starting a course with an I-20 type and making use of for a visa as a brand new scholar
• Changing your standing to F1 from non-immigrant standing whereas within the US
• Filing for reinstatement after being out of standing for over 5 months within the US

Please notice that the embassy’s visa software payment doesn’t embrace the SEVIS payment, and it should be paid earlier than submitting the visa software type. The SEVIS payment receipt will probably be mailed, and it might take as much as two weeks to reach. You’ll want the unique receipt when submitting your paperwork.

Ways to Pay the SEVIS Fee for an F1 Visa

To pay the SEVIS payment for an F1 visa, it’s important to make the cost no less than three days earlier than your visa interview appointment. Payment could be made on-line or through mail, and each college students and third events are eligible to pay the payment. The DHS offers detailed directions for cost, and listed below are the steps concerned:

● If you select to pay the SEVIS payment utilizing a bank card, go to www.ice.gov/sevis/i901/index.htm. After cost, it’s essential to print out the receipt and carry it throughout the visa interview.

● If paying the payment utilizing a cheque or cash order, go to https://www.ice.gov/sevis/i901/faq#questions-about-payments. The cheque or cash order must be drawn from a US-based monetary establishment, made payable to “I-901 Student or Exchange Visitor Processing Fee,” and accompanied by a duly accomplished Form I-901. DHS will ship a receipt through mail, which you have to carry to the visa interview.

● For cost by the Western Union Quick Pay™ service, go to https://www.ice.gov/sevis/i901/wu-instructions. Some taking part Western Union areas can gather SEVIS charges within the native foreign money.

You can ship the finished I-901 type and cost through courier to the next handle:

I-901 Student/Exchange Visitor Processing Fee
1005 Convention Plaza
St. Louis, MO 63101
United States
Phone Number: 1-314-425-1809 (United States Country Code 011)

These cost strategies may also be used for paying the SEVIS payment for an F1 visa from India.

What is the period of the SEVIS payment validity for an F1 visa?

The SEVIS payment stays legitimate for the period you keep your uninterrupted F1 standing.

The payment is legitimate for 12 months from the cost date. If you fail to acquire a visa throughout the specified interval, you have to to pay the SEVIS payment once more.

It is essential to maintain all receipts, acknowledgments, and cost data secure as chances are you’ll be required to current them throughout your F1 visa interview. It is really useful that you simply retain these receipts till you full your diploma program within the US.

SEVIS Fee Amount

The I-901 SEVIS payment quantity varies relying on the particular group. The desk under offers the payment for every particular group:

If you have got enrolled in any of the packages listed under, you’ll be required to pay a further payment.

The SEVIS payment is required to be paid by people holding F-1, F-3, M-1, or M-3 visas. The payment quantity for the F1 visa and different visa holders is USD 350. Additionally, in case you are taking part in packages just like the summer time work/journey program, AU pair program, or camp counselor program, an additional payment of USD 35 must be paid. However, dependents with (F-2, M-2, or J-2) visas of scholars or alternate guests are exempted from paying the payment.

Various cost strategies can be found for paying the SEVIS payment, together with debit/ Visa, MasterCard, or American Express bank cards, courier cost/cash order, and Western Union Quick Pay. It is necessary to notice that credit score or debit playing cards can solely be used when paying the SEVIS payment on-line after submitting Form I-901 on-line at www.fmjfee.com.

If you like to pay by worldwide cash order or verify, it should be drawn from a monetary establishment within the United States and payable in US foreign money. If you select to pay through courier, the payment must be despatched to the next handle:

I-901 Student/Exchange Visitor Processing Fee
1005 Convention Plaza
St. Louis, MO 63101
United States
Phone Number: 1-314-425-1809 (US Country Code 011)

Before making a cost utilizing any of the strategies talked about within the article, it is best to have in mind the next tips:

• A payment of USD 35 is charged if the financial institution that the verify is drawn on doesn’t honor it.
• If you select to pay the SEVIS payment by verify or cash order when filling out Form I-901 on-line, a cost coupon will probably be offered so that you can print. The management quantity on the coupon, your title, and your SEVIS ID quantity must be written on the verify or cash order, which ought to then be connected to the coupon.
• If you determine to make use of the paper Form I-901, your title and SEVIS ID quantity must be written on the verify or cash order, and the shape must be enclosed earlier than sending.
• To pay the SEVIS I-901 payment by Western Union, you have to full Form I-901 on-line and procure a coupon quantity earlier than visiting Western Union.

If you mistakenly present incorrect data within the SEVIS type, you wouldn’t have to finish the shape once more; as a substitute, it is best to contact fmjfee.sevis@ice.dhs.gov through e mail with the small print of the data that requires modification.

Once you have got efficiently accomplished the Sevis I-901 software type, you possibly can verify the I-901 standing and print the cost affirmation for future reference.

Frequently Asked Questions