Within two months, international students may have to pay a new $100 fee to study in this country.
The fee would fund the cost of operating the Student Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), the database the Department of Homeland Security uses to monitor international students' compliance with their visa requirements.
The Department plans to begin charging this fee after a 60-day comment period, which began last Monday.
Garrison Courtney, a spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an investigative arm of Homeland Security, said the fee is not certain.
"It's a proposed fee, and we're still seeking comment," Courtney said.
The public may submit comments about this fee to the Department.
Courtney described SEVIS as a computerized version of what the government has been doing for more than 50 years - collecting information on students.
"Colleges, by law, need information and the visa, by law, requires information," Courtney said. "SEVIS keeps track of that information to make sure they comply."
SEVIS received congressionally appropriated money to cover basic startup costs, but Congress mandated that the database would eventually acquire its revenue from this fee, Courtney said.
He said that SEVIS liaisons would work with school officials that deal with international student services.
SEVIS can protect international students as well, Courtney said. According to Courtney, the Department does not have optimum communication with universities, and this fee would help improve communication between schools and compliance enforcement officers.
"It's preposterous," said Andrei Galatanu, a Kogod School of Business freshman from Romania. "I'm going to go out naked and protest."
Galatanu said he was shocked to find out about the proposed fee.
"There should be a formal announcement," he said.
Other international students think the fee is too expensive.
"That's too much for the service," said Peter Enis, a Washington Semester student from Germany.
"It's another fee, and studying in the states is expensive enough," said Maximilian Lauerbach, also a Washington Semester student from Germany. "I think it's unnecessary, but I can understand that after Sept. 11, students may be a target group."
Courtney said that SEVIS has been receiving "a lot of bad press" labeling it a "terrorist tracking system."
Courtney said the fee may increase or decrease after consideration of the costs and will be reviewed about every two years.
He said that the fee is not that much in comparison to the average costs of attending AU.
"Part of their visa requirement is to have the money to be able to study abroad," he said. "When you compare it to activity fees and such, it's really not that much."
Fanta Aw, AU's director of international student services, said she does not think this fee will make it harder for students to study in this country. According to Aw, the usual fees for international students add up to over $100 already.
Students will have to show the receipt of payment for this fee in order to get their visas, Aw said.
"There are already delays with visa processing," she said. "I think this fee may have an impact on students' ability to get here on time if it is not coordinated properly"
