INS Proposes Rule to Permit Part-time Commuter Students to Enter the U.S. in F-1 & M-1 Status
Courtesy of AILA
Below is an INS Press Release and Fact Sheet outlining the proposed change
in the regulations to permit part-time students to commute to attend
studies at U.S. colleges and universities within 75 miles of Canada or
Mexico and maintain F-1 & M-1 status. Previously only full-time students
were eligible for F-1 & M-1 status.
INS News Release
August 26, 2002
INS Announces New Rule to Assist Part-time Commuter Students
Washington, DC- The Immigration and Naturalization Service today announced
an interim rule to allow Mexican and Canadian commuter students to study
on a part-time basis at schools located within 75 miles of the United
States border. This new rule will clarify that Mexican or Canadian nationals
who reside outside the United States and regularly commute across a land
border to study may do so on a part-time basis within the F-1 or M-1
nonimmigrant visa category. These changes are being made to facilitate
and legitimize certain part-time study in border communities while ensuring
that all applicable requirements and safeguards are met.
Clarifying the legal manner in which part-time students enter the U.S.
will benefit not only the students but American schools in the border
communities, said Attorney General John Ashcroft. This new rule will
prevent the significant disruption of the part-time study that has become
an accepted fact of life along our borders with Mexico and Canada, he
added.
The purpose of this rule is to acknowledge the special relationship
between the United States and its neighbors and to legitimize such study
by border commuter students, while placing it within a regulated, controlled
process, said INS Commissioner James Ziglar. To qualify under this new
rule, they must attend an INS approved school located no more than 75-miles
from the border and obtain the appropriate Form I-20 Certificate of Eligibility
for Nonimmigrant Student Status, and obtain the appropriate visa, unless
exempt. By January, the INS will have in place an on-line reporting system
known as the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS).
Schools will be required to report through SEVIS on foreign students,
including these part-time commuters.
The immigration law prohibits the admission as visitors of aliens seeking
to attend school part-time as commuters. However, it had become commonplace
for these students to enter as visitors on a daily basis. Since September
11, the INS has more closely scrutinized the purpose of entry of these
Mexican and Canadian visitors. Tighter enforcement of our laws has led
to concerns that part-time commuter students are no longer eligible to
pursue their studies on the U. S. side of the border.
Recognizing the need to serve the educational interests of students living
on both sides of our northern and southern borders and the economic prosperity
of these border communities, the INS instructed immigration officers
to parole Canadian and Mexican nationals who have already enrolled in
U.S. schools until December 31, 2002. This rule will ensure that those
students may continue their education in the U.S. The rule will also
benefit commuter students who wish to commence part-time study at a border
school once they have obtained the necessary documentation.
INS welcomes written comments on this interim rule. Comments should be
addressed to the Director, Regulations and Forms Services Division, Immigration
and Naturalization Service, 425 I street, NW, Room 4034, Washington,
DC 20536. Comments may also be submitted electronically to the INS at
insregs@usdoj.gov.
When submitting comments electronically, you must include INS No. 2220-02
in the subject heading so that the comments can be electronically routed
to the appropriate office for review.
For more information, please access the INS web site: www.ins.gov or
call the INS Customer Service Center: 1-800-375-5283.
-INS-
