To call or not to call, that is the question? Should we rush to call the SEVIS hotline?

Since this morning  many are calling SEVIS and the response is pretty general:

1. You can apply for reinstatement; or

2. Leave the country and come back with a fresh SEVIS number; and

3. You need to use the form I-539 for your student status.

They are actually asking the following (might vary based on case by case basis)

a. Name

b. Full Address

c. School

d. contact number (phone)

e. address where you are living

f. email address

g. sevis id number.

h. college dates of attendance.

i. the level of major field of study.

At this point, there is no further information disclosed. Now the question are:

A. What happens to those who are eligible to change status for e.g. to F2, H4, etc?

B. What do we expect from this massive “gathering” of data? Is it to work in helping the students get a new status or is it to be able to “LOCATE” the students for further investigation?

Based on the limited information above, ICE has not given a time frame within which the TVU students should call (except the business hours). Therefore it might be wise for people to hold on for few days so that we know what are the real strategies of ICE in asking students to call this specific number. Should you chose to call the number, have an attorney ready to defend you in case you are question by ICE.

In case you chose to call do the following:

1. Take good notes of the entire conversation including name of officer and ID if possible; and

2. Let the officer know you are represented by counsel.

Note that the above is form informational and educational purposes only. One should not act or refrain to act solely on the information provided. You should retain an attorney to give you specific information on your case. No attorney-client relationship is created by this message.