May 2009 SEVIS II Batch Workshop Summary

A May 5-6, 2009, “SEVIS II Batch Workshop” sponsored by the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) and the Department of State Exchange Visitor Program (EVP) offered updated SEVIS II information to the batch community as well as the opportunity to provide feedback, ask questions, and voice concerns. The workshop was attended by more than 400 representatives from schools, exchange visitor programs, and software vendors.

Updates included:

• the announcement of a December 14, 2009, projected release date for final batch processing design specifications (with full SEVIS II implementation currently projected for October 2010, although that timeline is subject to change); and
• an overview of some technical changes to batch, most significantly the use of “Web services” architecture and the requirement for server-side digital certificates (issued by an authorized nonfederal share service provider such as VeriSign).

Workshop participants also discussed and prioritized options for requesting data from SEVIS via batch or as a report, including types of data that could be requested and possible data formats. 

NAFSA and SEVP will continue to work together on SEVIS II and batch issues. For updated summaries on SEVIS II, please see NAFSA's SEVIS II Resource Page.