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Welcome to the SEVIS Training for sponsor officials. This training is designed to facilitate your understanding of SEVIS in regards to the administration, maintenance and management of the J-1
program information at your organization and your exchange visitor and spouse/dependent records. In this presentation we will discuss: Viewing Alerts and Lists of Exchange Visitors, Searching for Records,
and the Batch Processing functionality.
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Disclaimer:
This presentation provides guidance for using SEVIS. It does not replace the Exchange Visitor Program regulations found at 22 CFR Part 62. To obtain administrative guidance on the Exchange Visitor Program,
the Exchange Visitor Program regulations, or program or exchange visitor issues and concerns, contact the Department of State’s Office of Private Sector Exchange Designation.
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Now let’s take a look at the Alerts related to exchange visitor records.
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To access the Alerts, click the radio button next to the Program Name on the Listing of Programs page and click the Alerts button.
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The Alerts pertaining to the program will display. Some of the alerts are links to access the lists of affected records. Click the link to see the exchange visitors on the alert. The table allows you to sort by
each column. Click the up or down arrow to change the sorting for the column. The table will display up to 20 records by default on each page. You can click the ‘Show Entries’ down arrow to change the
number of records that will be displayed on each page. The table can also be exported into an Excel document, into a CSV file or to a PDF. The number of records displayed on the page will be exported to
the selected format.
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Alerts are a useful tool, drawing sponsor officials’ attention to certain program facts and serving as a “To Do” list. If an alert exists for the exchange visitor, this is a reminder to review the record and determine
if any action needs to be taken.
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There are certain categories that have additional alerts. These categories and their corresponding alerts are listed on the Slide.
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The next functionality we will look at is Search Exchange Visitors and Spouse/Dependents.
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To perform a global search from any page in SEVIS, a SEVIS ID can be entered into the Search area on the navigation bar. This search allows you to search across all programs and schools that you are associated
with. Enter in a SEVIS ID and click the magnifying glass button.
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To access the Search page, select the Program from the Listing of Programs page and click the Search button.
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This is the Search Exchange Visitors and Dependents page. The Quick Search section is at the top. Enter any one criterion and click the Search button. In the Advanced Search you can search by only exchange
visitors, or you can expand the search to include J-2 records as well. When selecting the All Names option, at least one criterion must be selected in the Refine By section. Notice that up to three statuses
may be selected.
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There are two ways to search for records. The fastest way is to use the Quick Search. It requires only one criterion, such as SEVIS ID, Visa Foil Number, or the Surname/Primary Name. The Advanced Search
allows the user to search by additional name fields such as the Surname/Primary Name and Given Name combination, Passport Name or Preferred Name. It also allows for the use of a wild card character. To
search by all names, an official must refine the search by at least one additional criterion.
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Now let’s have a closer look at Exchange Visitor Lists in SEVIS.
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To access the Lists, select the Program from the Listing of Programs page and click the EV Lists button.
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This Slide shows the available lists. Clicking a particular list’s name will open the corresponding list of all the exchange visitors and spouse/dependents on that list.
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The table allows you to sort by each column. Click the up or down arrow to change the sorting for the column. Like the alerts, this table will display up to 20 records by default on each page. You can click the
‘Show Entries’ down arrow to change the number of records that will be displayed on each page. The table can also be exported into an Excel document, into a CSV file or to a PDF. The number of records
displayed on the page will be exported to the selected format. Some lists will display additional fields when exported to Excel. For example, the exported list of Active Status Exchange Visitors and
Dependents includes primary site of activity fields, subject/field code and description, email address, country of citizenship and physical address fields.
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This Slide shows all the exchange visitor lists available for the sponsor officials. They are useful for performing various work tasks. Most of the list names are based on the status of the records and are
self-explanatory. Saved Exchange Visitors and Dependents is a list of records in Draft status. The records on this list are automatically deleted by the system if they are not submitted within 45 days of the last
save.
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We have mentioned that specific categories have actions and alerts that are unique to the category. This is the same for lists. This
Slide shows the category specific lists.
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Now we will look at updating records via Batch.
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SEVIS allows users to update data in two ways: the first is RTI, or Real Time Interface, where the user logs into the system to create and update records. The second method is Batch. Batch allows users to
create and maintain records in an external database and then upload the data to SEVIS on a nightly basis.
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Any sponsor that uses Batch must first register for Batch. After registration, users must test using an XML schema and the SEVIS test environment. Batch systems can be homegrown by the sponsors or sponsors can use the software provided by a third
party vendor. The XML is updated when new functionalities are added to SEVIS. Batch files are uploaded nightly. After the upload is completed, a transaction file is returned to the sponsor.
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Some functionalities are not available in Batch and must be done through RTI. Batch users must remember to log into SEVIS to maintain their passwords and to see lists and alerts. To
learn more about Batch, go to the ice.gov/sevis website.
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Thank you for watching. For additional videos about administering your exchange visitor program, please visit our website.
