University of Northern Virginia (UNVA) Raided by Federal Agents – F-1 Students in Jeopardy

We have many confirmed reports that yesterday, July 28, 2011, the University of Northern Virginia’s (UNVA) campus in Annandale was raided by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) agents, seeking and seizing documentation relating to UNVA’s issuance of F-1 foreign student visas and UNVA’s compliance in the F-1 visa program.

According to reports, federal agents seized significant amount of boxes with paper, hard drives from administrative computers and even waste baskets.    ICE confirmed the UNVA raid in a statement, “Today, officials from ICE’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) served UNVA with a Notice of Intent to Withdraw (NOIW) UNVA’s authorization to admit foreign students. UNVA students should call the SEVP Response Center at 703-603-3400 for guidance.”

Similarity to TVU Raid

The UNVA raid of yesterday is very similar to the raid federal agents conducted on Tri-Valley University (TVU) earlier this year.   We have written in the past about TVU’s story and the importance of maintaining good “F-1 practices” both by the school and by the foreign students whose status and ability to remain in the U.S. is affected by the closure of their school.    Some of our readers may remember that after TVU was raided, all of its F-1 foreign students were deemed to be out of status and the TVU president was indicted on a number of federal offenses.   While there are no charges filed, the UNVA raid bears similarities to the TVU raid and subsequent closure.  It is important to note, however, that as of now, UNVA continues to operate normally and students can continue to attend classes.

UNVA F-1 Students May Need to Seek Alternatives

While it is very early in the investigation process, indications are that ICE would seek to revoke UNVA’s ability to participate in the SEVP program, which would mean that all F-1 students currently enrolled in UNVA would be out of status.   If ICE takes the same approach as it did with TVU and if ultimately UNVA is closed down, it is possible that current UNVA students may have very difficult time even transferring their I-20 to a new school.

There are approximately 2,400 or so F-1 international students enrolled in UNVA and the U.S. government has indicated that those UNVA F-1 foreign students who are not attending classes and are out of status and must leave immediately.  Students who are attending UNVA and are in full compliance with their F-1 status (i.e. attending classes and not otherwise violating the terms of the F-1 program) should be still considered to be in valid status, at least for now and for as long as UNVA’s ability to sponsor F-1 visas is not revoked.   As of now, UNVA F-1 students should also be able to transfer their SEVIS I-20 record to another school.

Conclusion

It the TVU story provides any history and a roadmap to ICE’s approach, it is likely that if ICE/FBI find irregularities of the kind found at TVU, then UNVA’s ability to admit foreign students would be revoked and the 2,400 or so foreign students’ status would be terminated.    Our office will continue to monitor developments on this case as it may affect a very high number of individuals and will continue providing updates on our website and through our weekly newsletter.

We have also committing the resources to providing individual phone consultations to allow affected F-1 students to assess their options.   We offer fast and secure online booking of legal consultations. We also offer same-day urgent phone consultations.