Today, Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Student Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) sent out a Broadcast Message notifying all SEVIS users of modifications being made to the temporary procedural adaptations for online courses that were permitted during the height of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Specifically, for the Spring and Summer 2020 semesters SEVP had temporarily exempted F-1 and M-1 students from the normal online class requirements and such students were permitted to take more online courses than normally allowed for purposes of maintaining a full course of study.
However, starting with the Fall 2020 semester these temporary exemptions will be modified as follows:
Full Online Course Load No Longer Permitted - Students attending schools operating entirely online may not take a full course load and remain in the United States. The Broadcast confirms that F-1/M-1 visa stamps will not be issued to students enrolled in fully online schools and programs and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will not permit such students to enter the U.S. In addition, students currently enrolled in such programs must depart the U.S. or take other measures, such as transferring to a school with qualifying in-person instruction, to maintain lawful student status. Failure to do so could result in negative immigration consequences including initiation of removal proceedings.
One Class/Three Credit Hours Permitted for Normal In-Person Schools - For schools that have chosen to resume normal in-person classes, the normal regulations permitting only one online class (or 3 online credit hours) will apply.
Hybrid Schools Must Make Additional Certifications on Form I-20 - Students attending schools that adopt a hybrid online/in-person class model, students will be permitted to take additional online classes above the standard regulatory minimum discussed in point 2 above. However, the school must certify to SEVP on a new Form I-20 that the program is not entirely online, that the student Fall 2020 course load is not entirely online, and that the student is taking the minimum number of online classes required to make normal progress on their degree program. The Broadcast notes that F-1 English language training programs and M-1 students are not permitted to enroll in any online courses.
The Broadcast Message also outlines additional reporting requirements required for schools for the Fall 2020 semester, including issuing new I-20s to each student certifying compliance with the above modified temporary exemptions.
DHS has stated it plans to publish a Temporary Final Rule in the Federal Register codifying these modifications.
UPDATE: On July 14, 2020, the Trump administration reached an agreement in the lawsuits that followed this Broadcast message and will not be enforcing these new more restrictive rules. The New York Times reports that the agreement will reinstate the policy implemented in March 2020 which gave international students greater flexibility to take all their classes online and still maintain valid student status.