Track SEVIS payments online

International students and scholars, who must pay a fee to register in the Homeland Security Department’s information tracking system to study in the United States, will be able to track their payments online.

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement bureau now offers students the ability to monitor the status of their Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) I-901 fee payment through the Web site at http://www.fmjfee.com. Before the site, students would have to contact the SEVIS program office directly.

The new features on the site will help users know whether their feed has been received. It will also provide them with an estimate of when the consular office will independently verify the fee payment in their system. The site also provides answers to frequently asked questions.

Students and exchange visitors must pay a congressionally-mandated $100 fee in most cases before they get their visas. The fee is used to support the SEVIS program office and Internet-based system that tracks the students and scholars. As of February 2005, nearly 753,000 students and exchange visitors -- and 115,700 of their dependents -- registered with SEVIS, according to an ICE press release.

Students and exchange visitors can pay via the Web, by mail or at a Western Union office, but the Web has turned out to be the most popular method, accounting for 77 percent of all payments.