23-05-2025
Harvard vs Trump: What is SEVP revocation row and what's next for international students — all your FAQs answered
Harvard vs Trump: The Donald Trump administration, in its escalating feud with Harvard University, recently dealt the Ivy League school another huge blow — revoking the varsity's Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) certification — which enables a university to enrol international students.
Harvard University sued the Trump government, stating that the block had an 'immediate and devastating effect' on the university and over 7,000 visa holders, and a US judge blocked the government's decision for now.
But what if the Trump government becomes successful in revoking Harvard's SEVP certification? What does it mean for the international students? LiveMint explains.
The SEVP, granted by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), allows colleges and universities to enrol international students on F-1 and M-1 visas—the most common types of student visas.
Without the SEVP, schools are not permitted to issue the Form I-20, a crucial document that verifies a student's enrollment, and is required for students to maintain their legal immigration status in the US.
'It is very simple: if the status is not reverted to original, then Harvard cannot have international students in the coming year,' Bhuvanyaa Vijay, an immigration lawyer, told The Crimson, before the court ruling.
According to The Crimson, international students currently enrolled at Harvard will need to transfer out of Harvard or risk losing their ability to remain in the United States lawfully, if the varsity's SEVP revocation takes effect.
The revocation of Harvard's SEVP status does not immediately invalidate student visas. Instead, students will get a grace period to determine how they will respond.
Although the Trump administration had not specified the 'grace period', Bhuvanyaa Vijay said that lawyers usually ask such students to 'hurry up,' and 'within 15 days at best,' ask them to try to transfer to another SEVP-certified institution.
Those students, who are set to graduate from Harvard University around next week should be eligible to receive their degrees, said immigration lawyers.
'If students have completed all of their graduation requirements, they should still be able to graduate, so that shouldn't be an issue,' The Crimson quoted Nicole Hallett — a immigration rights professor at the University of Chicago's law school, as saying.
