The SEVIS fee applies to those persons applying for F or J visas and entering the United States for the first time, or to those persons applying to change status to F or J status while inside the U.S.

The SEVIS fee is in addition to the visa application fee and is payable to the U.S. government. This fee is collected by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to defray the cost of maintaining the SEVIS database, which is used to track visitors to the U.S. in F, M, and J visa statuses. SEVIS allows your U.S. school or program to issue documents to you directly and manage your stay in the U.S. through an electronic notification process to the DHS.

Effective October 26, 2008, the SEVIS fee required for all F-1 and J-1 visa applicants will increase.
This is the first fee increase since its inception five years ago.

For full details on the increase and to identify the amount you will be required to pay, please refer to the fact sheet at the link below:

http://www.ice.gov/doclib/sevis/pdf/sevp_factsheet.pdf

You must complete Form I-901 and pay the SEVIS fee before a visa stamp will be issued to you.
The SEVIS fee for nonimmigrant students is $200.
The SEVIS fee for most J-1 exchange visitors is $180.
The SEVIS fee for Summer Work Travel participants is $35.

For information on many aspects of SEVIS, see the DHS web site at
http://www.ice.gov/sevis/index.htm

For extensive information on the SEVIS fee, who needs to pay the fee, how to pay the fee, and who is exempt from the fee see the SEVP website at
http://www.ice.gov/sevis/i901/index.htm

We strongly encourage you to pay this fee electronically, if possible. You will need a receipt of the fee payment to apply for your visa stamp. Filing on-line will provide you with a receipt that can be printed immediately. Filing by mail will generally require that you pay for express mail and wait several days or longer for the paper receipt.

If you are sponsored by a government agency (e.g. the Fulbright program), your sponsor may be paying this fee for you. Please check with your sponsor to confirm this.

We look forward to your arrival at Duke.