An F-1 Transfer Moves Your SEVIS Record, Not Your Visa: Same SEVIS ID, a New Program Within Five Months, and a Report Within 15 Days
When an F-1 student changes schools inside the United States, what moves is the SEVIS record, not the visa. The Department of Homeland Security's SEVIS Help Hub explains that when a student begins full-time studies at a new school, the SEVIS record must be transferred to that school, which lets the student keep the original SEVIS ID and history. A transfer can happen during an academic program, or after completing one program and before starting a different degree program or level.
Three conditions frame the process. The new school must be another F-1 SEVP-certified school. The student must be accepted first, then work with the current school's designated school official (DSO) to start the transfer, providing as a best practice the written confirmation of acceptance, a written request to begin the transfer, the SEVIS school code for the new school, and the new DSO's contact information. Under the regulation at 8 CFR 214.2(f)(8), a DSO may not refuse to transfer the record of an eligible student accepted by another SEVP-certified school for any reason, including financial or business reasons, and F-2 dependents transfer with the F-1 student.
Two deadlines are firm. The new program must begin with the first available session within five months of the earlier of the transfer release date or the current program completion date, with the same five-month rule measured from the release date or the OPT end date for students on post-completion OPT. On the release date the record deactivates at the old school, the new school creates the transfer Form I-20, and the student must report to the new school within 15 days of the program start date and enroll in a full course of study.
One consequence is easy to miss: all F-1 employment is canceled and must stop on the transfer release date, including on-campus work and OPT, even if the employment authorization document has time left on it. Students who are working should factor that date in before they set the release date with their DSO. (Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security)
Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：美国一所大学教学楼外走过的学生（资料图）。照片中一人穿 Tulane 字样的卫衣。Wikimedia Commons 图片。 / Photo: Students walking outside a campus building in the United States (file photo); one wears a Tulane sweatshirt. Image via Wikimedia Commons.
