SEVIS violations

Avoiding violations to your SEVIS record

It is your responsibility to remain compliant with immigration and university regulations. The ISSC is here to provide information and services to ensure that you are aware of these requirements and are able to remain compliant. Maintaining contact with ISSC and reading your ASU email regularly throughout your time here will help ensure you stay in status.

See Maintaining Status for more information.

If your SEVIS record (Form I-20/DS-2019) is terminated OR you overstay your grace period, you could be accruing unlawful presence. This can lead to arrest and deportation proceedings. Accruing unlawful presence may result in being barred from the U.S.

If you are not compliant with regulations, we may be forced by law to terminate your SEVIS record (Form I-20/DS-2019). Termination of a SEVIS record is very serious and could have many negative consequences for you. It can end your ability to stay in the United States, attend school and apply for work authorization. SEVIS termination means that you are not in legal status ("out of status"), beyond any grace period you may be eligible for according to the Department of Homeland Security.

Staying in the U.S. beyond your allowable grace period is also a violation of F-1 regulations.

It can be very difficult to fix an immigration status violation. If you are out of status, contact us to learn about your options.

Learn more about maintaining your F-1/J-1 student status.

Important concepts

Reasons for the termination of a SEVIS record include:

You fail to report your arrival to ISSC by submitting the SEVIS New Student Check-in eForm through the MyISSC eForm Portal.
You drop below full-time course of study without advanced authorization.
You withdraw from classes without authorization from ISSC.
You fail to enroll in classes.
You enroll in too many online classes.
You accept employment without obtaining employment authorization from ISSC or USCIS.
You do not extend your expiring Form I-20/DS 20-19 before the program end date.
You are academically expelled or suspended and you do not transfer to a new U.S. school in a timely manner, or you do not leave the U.S. by the deadline.
You graduate or complete your OPT, but did not do one of the following:
Depart the U.S. by the established deadline.
Transfer to a new school/program.
Change to another immigration status in a timely manner.

As of, September 15, 2026, F-1 students have a 30-day grace period following graduation or the end of OPT.

You fail to maintain status during Post-OPT, STEM OPT extension or Cap Gap extension.
You accrue 90 days of unemployment while on OPT (automatic SEVIS termination).

If your record is terminated while on OPT, contact us for information about your
options.

In most cases, the termination of your SEVIS record means that you must make plans to immediately depart from the United States. There may not be a grace period after a termination.

If your SEVIS record is terminated and you lose your status, you have two options to reinstate your F-1 status: travel outside the United States with a new I-20 and re-enter, or submit a reinstatement application to regain your status. Both types of status correction have risks, and therefore students will be required to speak with an international student advisor prior to taking any action.

F-2/J-2 dependents (the spouse and children under 21 of an F-1/J-1 student) rely upon the F-1/J-1 maintaining their legal status. If the F-1/J-1 loses legal status, so do the dependents. If you have an F-2/J-2 spouse or children, they would also have their SEVIS records terminated at the same time.