[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 191 (Wednesday, October 3, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56370-56371]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-19455]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement


Agency Information Collection Activities: Comment Request

ACTION: 30-Day Notice of Information Collection Under Review; the 
Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), OMB Control 
No. 1653-0038.

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    The Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs 
Enforcement (USICE), has submitted the following information collection 
request for review and clearance in accordance with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995. The information collection is published to 
obtain comments from the public and affected agencies. The information 
collection was previously published in the Federal Register on July 12, 
2007, Vol. 72 No. 133 38095, allowing for a 60-day comment period. No 
comments were received on this information collection. The purpose of 
this notice is to allow an additional 30 days for public comments. 
Comments are encouraged and will be accepted for thirty days until 
October 31, 2007.
    Written comments and suggestions regarding items contained in this 
notice, and especially with regard to the estimated public burden and 
associated response time should be directed to the Department of 
Homeland Security (DHS); Lee Shirkey, Acting Chief, Records Management 
Branch; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, 425 I Street, NW., 
Room 1122, Washington, DC 20536; (202) 353.2266. These comments and 
suggestions concerning the continued collection of information should 
address one or more of the following four points:
    (1) Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, 
including whether the information will have practical utility;
    (2) Evaluate the accuracy of the agencies estimate of the burden of 
the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used;
    (3) Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to 
be collected; and
    (4) Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those 
who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, 
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic 
submission of responses.
Overview of This Information Collection
    (1) Type of information collection: Extension of currently approved 
information collection.
    (2) Title of the form/collection: Petition for Approval of School 
for Attendance by Nonimmigrant Student and Certificate of Eligibility 
for Nonimmigrant Student Status.
    (3) Agency form number, if any, and the applicable component of the 
Department of Homeland Security sponsoring the collection: Forms I-17 
and I-20/Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP).
    (4) Affected public who will be asked or required to respond, as 
well as a brief abstract:  Primary. Approximately 30,000 designated 
school officials (DSOs) representing some 8,300 academic and vocational 
institutions. Section 641 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and 
Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA), Public Law 104-208, Div. 
C (Sept. 30, 1996; see attachment 1) requires the creation of a program 
to collect current information, on an ongoing basis, from schools and 
exchange visitor programs relating to nonimmigrant F, M or J foreign 
students and exchange visitors during the course of their stay in the 
United States (U.S.), using electronic reporting technology to the 
fullest extent practicable. It further requires Federal approval and 
authorization of schools and exchange visitor programs participating in 
such enrollment. The information collection about nonimmigrants 
mandated by IIRIRA includes the identity and current address in the 
United States of the alien, the nonimmigrant classification of the 
alien, the date on which a visa under the classification was issued or 
extended or the date on which a change to such classification was 
approved by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the current 
academic status of the alien, including whether the alien is 
maintaining status as a full-time student, or whether an exchange 
visitor is satisfying the terms and conditions of his or her program, 
and any disciplinary action taken by the institution or exchange 
visitor program sponsor against the alien as a result of a conviction 
of a crime. The Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing 
Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA 
PATRIOT) Act of 2001, Public Law 107-56 (October 26, 2001), 
subsequently amended IIRIRA and added the requirement that information 
be collected on the date of entry and port-of-entry. On October 30, 
2001, the President issued Homeland Security Directive No. 2 (Directive 
2) requiring DHS to conduct periodic, ongoing review of all 
institutions certified to accept nonimmigrant students. On May 14, 2002 
the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2002 (Border 
Security Act), Public Law 107-173, 116 Stat. 543 (May 14, 2002), was 
enacted. It required DHS to recertify all schools approved for 
attendance by F or M nonimmigrant students within two years of the 
passage of the Border Security Act. Further, it mandates that DHS 
conduct an additional recertification of these schools every two years 
following. Data collection requirements for SEVP certification, 
oversight and recertification of schools authorized to enroll F or M 
nonimmigrant students are not specified in the aforementioned 
legislation, but are enumerated in 8 CFR 214.3 and 214.4. The Student 
and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), a component of U.S. Immigration 
and Customs Enforcement (ICE), is the program mandated by these laws to 
carry out these responsibilities.
    (5) An estimate of the total number of respondents and the amount 
of time estimated for an average respondent to respond annually:

 
 
 
Respondents................................  30,000.
Time for student management reporting......  6.8 hours.
Time for management of SEVP certification..  2.3 hours
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    Average time per respondent............  9.1 hours.
 

    (6) An estimate of the total public burden (in hours) associated 
with the collection: 273,000.
    Comments and/or questions; requests for a copy of the proposed 
information collection instrument, with instructions;

[[Page 56371]]

or inquiries for additional information should be directed to: Lee 
Shirkey, Acting Chief, Records Management Branch; U.S. Immigration and 
Customs Enforcement, 425 I Street, NW., Room 1122, Washington, DC 
20536; (202) 616-2266.

    Dated: September 27, 2007.
Lee Shirkey,
Acting Chief, Records Management Branch, U.S. Immigration and Customs 
Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security.
 [FR Doc. E7-19455 Filed 10-2-07; 8:45 am]
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