June 16, 2015—Next weekend the Department of Homeland Security's Student and Exchange Visitor System (SEVIS) will undergo a software upgrade, and during that time the system will be unavailable. The system outage starts at 8:00 p.m. Friday, June 26 and is expected to end at 8:00 p.m. Sunday, June 28. 

During the outage, SEVIS will not be able to transmit new data to government partners. Here’s how F-1 students, J-1 exchange visitors, and F-2 and J-2 dependents could be affected:

• Primary inspection at US ports of entry: US officers might send F and J visa holders to secondary inspection, since they won’t have access to SEVIS. This may cause travel delays, including missed connecting flights. If you can, it’s best to avoid traveling to the US during the outage.
• Visa applications: US consulates might not be able to issue visas until SEVIS is restored.
• SEVIS I-901 fee payment: the SEVIS fee payment system won’t be able to process payments until SEVIS is restored.
• Social security numbers and driver’s licenses: the Systematic Alien Verification for Eligibility (SAVE) database won’t receive new data from SEVIS during the outage, so any applications for a social security number or driver’s license might be delayed.

The outage will not affect H-1B, O-1, or TN visa holders.

If the outage lasts longer than the scheduled time, ISSS might not be able to process certain last-minute requests. We will let you know on Monday, June 29 if this is the case. 

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact your ISSS advisor.