On April 17, 2025, Hunton Immigration and Higher Education attorneys provided a client alert summarizing recent visa revocations and student SEVIS record terminations (e.g., F-1 visa and F-1 student status). This updates the previous client alert, and summarizes important and ongoing changes in federal policy and practices that impact the status of international students studying in the United States. As summarized below, recent developments in a court case related to SEVIS terminations indicate that the federal government, after temporarily reversing some terminations, has revised its criteria for terminating a student’s right to remain in the United States.

First, on April 25, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice announced in court that the federal government would temporarily restore the previously terminated SEVIS records of thousands of international students. The DOJ read the following statement in court: “ICE is developing a policy that will provide a framework for SEVIS record terminations. Until such a policy is issued, the SEVIS records for plaintiff(s) in this case (and other similarly situated plaintiffs) will remain Active or shall be reactivated if not currently Active . . . .”

This move followed several weeks of lawsuits filed by students and advocacy organizations alleging that the SEVIS record terminations violated the due process and free speech rights of international students, as well as the Administrative Procedures Act. As explained in our prior client alert, international students receive a student visa (e.g., an F-1 visa) to study in the United States. Once they have arrived, they are admitted in F-1 student status and tracked in their SEVIS records through the Department of Homeland Security’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP). The termination of SEVIS records led to questions about the students’ legal status in the United States.

With the federal government’s reversal, students whose SEVIS records were terminated should have been restored to active student status. Many institutions saw these changes occur from April 25 through April 27, 2025 in their checks of the SEVIS database and notified their affected international students accordingly.

Three days later, on April 28, what appears to be a draft of the new policy for SEVIS record terminations was provided in a court filing on April 28The message, was dated April 26, 2025 and addressed to all SEVP personnel (the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, run through the Department of Homeland Security), and states that ICE retains the authority to terminate students’ SEVIS records for a broad variety of reasons. The listed reasons included those previously viewed as standard and three significant additions:

• Exceeded unemployment time;
• Change of status or gap in status; or
• S. Department of State visa revocation “effective immediately.”

The message indicates a change to the processes for changing students’ immigration status records in SEVIS and represents a departure from previous policies in several important ways. The message states that evidence of an international student’s failure to comply alone will be the standard used to justify future SEVIS status terminations, rather than the higher standards of “substantial evidence,” “proof,” or the standard required for immigration removal proceedings, “clear and convincing evidence”.

The message also indicated that ICE intends to terminate students’ SEVIS records whenever the Department of State revokes an international student’s visa, followed by initiating removal proceedings. This means that SEVIS records may appear as terminated before a student’s status has been terminated in removal proceedings.

The message did not refer to any change in the federal government’s practice of not notifying students of their SEVIS record terminations. Therefore, an international student may still have their F-1 status terminated in SEVIS without notice to them or their university.

Key Takeaways

International student issues remain a closely-watched topic for higher-education institutions, and we continue to recommend clients collaborate closely with outside legal counsel and their international student offices to keep abreast of the latest legal developments and ensure their ongoing compliance.

In particular, colleges and universities should ensure that they are:

1. Regularly checking SEVIS to determine if any of their students’ F-1 status has been terminated (or restored to Active) and communicate any developments to the affected students as soon as possible.
2. Preparing for possible federal immigration enforcement activity on or around campus by understanding the types of requests for information federal agencies might make and best practices to meet cooperation obligations under federal and state law.
3. Developing and implementing a plan to address student and campus community concerns, as well as any concerns from the local community. In addition to planning for internal and external communications, expect that individual students may file their own lawsuits in court related to federal action taken on their student visa or SEVIS record.

We at Hunton have resources to advise higher education institutions on their particular immigration needs. We have developed training and guidance designed to assist public safety officers and administrators if federal agencies come to campus, and we can provide guidance and assistance in advising international students and scholars offices, HR and administrators on visa revocations and status terminations for students, researchers faculty, and staff.