Transfers between language schools are popular within America. As mentioned previously in this blog, it is possible for the transfer process to be completed by the student themselves.
■ Transfer Process
- Before the conclusion of your program, decide whether to extend the program at your current school or transfer to another
- If you decide to transfer, choose the school you will transfer to
- Proceed with the enrollment process of the school you will transfer to (fill in application forms, make payments etc; please follow the school’s procedure)
- Submit required documents to your current school
- Your current school moves your SEVIS record to your next school
This isn’t a difficult process, but some troubles have occurred from time to time.
■ A student has forgotten to submit the documents, and their status changed to ‘Complete’.
The documents required to move your SEVIS record to the next school are the ‘Transfer Form’ and the ‘Acceptance Letter’ for the school you are transferring to.
The issues that occurred in a certain case are related to this.
A student who had completed their program submitted a ‘transfer form’. The staff filled out all the necessary information and handed the form back to the student. Despite being urged to submit the acceptance letter prior to the final day, it was not submitted. More than sixty days passed following the end of the student’s program, and their status changed to ‘Complete’.
As previously mentioned in this blog, in the sixty days following the end of your program date (in the case of our school, the last day of your I-20 validity is the end date of your program) you will enter a Grace Period. Students must either transfer schools during this period or leave the United States.
The SEVIS status will automatically switch from ‘Active’ to ‘Complete’ on the 61st day. Once a status has become ‘Complete’, the school can do nothing more. You need to leave the US immediately.
■ Why is the transfer process incomplete without an ‘Acceptance Letter’?
Most schools mention the following warning on their ‘transfer forms’:
“Please do not release the student’s SEVIS record to us until our school DSO has confirmed acceptance of the student via a written Letter of Acceptance. This transfer Verification form is not a confirmation of acceptance.”
According to this warning, your current school cannot send your record to them unless both your ‘acceptance letter’ and ‘transfer form’ are complete.
Even if you complete your enrollment form and payment of fees, and the transfer process has been completed at the school you’re transferring into, whether or not your record is transferred depends on whether or not your documentation has been submitted properly.
At each school’s discretion, if a student’s SEVIS record has not been transferred despite completing the transfer process, the school may be able to contact the previous school and check the issue. However, not all schools will go that far.
NYEA takes a lot of admissions from other schools. After completing the enrollment process with us, we issue an ‘acceptance letter’ and we always ensure to send the ‘transfer form’ and ‘acceptance letter’ to the school the student is transferring from. We will contact the previous school in cases where the record has not been sent to us.
The transfer process is not difficult, but it’s a good idea to confirm the steps with the staff at your current or future school.