Overseas students wait for Harvard to react to 72-hour ultimatum

All international students in Harvard University, some 6,000 of them including around 800 from India and 1,000 from China, are required to join other SEVP-certified universities in order to continue their studies in the United States following of its authorisation to enrol international students.

Admissions in several US universities were, however, over in March and there is no clarity on how long the students have to transfer to other universities. Immigration attorneys pointed out to students that while Homeland Security specified no timeline, it is likely that they will be allowed some time to arrange their transfers. 

University newspaper Crimson Harvard in an editorial expressed the hope that Harvard would challenge the decision. The paper quoted several international students on campus to report that there was widespread panic. “The federal government is asking us to transfer out,” said Karl Molden, adding that ‘we now have to go through this stressful procedure again, find a university, and transfer our credits, and lose all our friends…it looks like it’s all falling apart’.

SEVP (Student and Exchange Visitor Programme) certification, which is issued by the Department of Homeland Security, authorises colleges and universities to enrol international students on F-1 and M-1 visas — the most common type of student visas. Without the certification, institutions cannot issue the Form I-20, which serves as proof of enrolment and is necessary for visitors to maintain their student status.

The DHS revoked Harvard’s SEVP certification on Thursday — three weeks after the university announced that it had partially complied with demands made by DHS in a 16 April 2025 letter asking for information about international students’ protest activities. Panic has set in ahead of next week’s graduation or commencement ceremony.

Harvard has not commented on how the DHS directive could impact affiliates’ ability to graduate next week or continue their studies at the university. Harvard spokesperson Jason A. Newton, however, wrote that the DHS’ decision was “unlawful” and that Harvard was “fully committed to maintaining Harvard’s ability to host our international students and scholars” in a statement.

Bhuvanyaa Vijay, an immigration attorney and graduate of Harvard Law School, told The Crimson that unless the DHS reverses course on the decision to terminate Harvard’s SEVP certification, international students attending Harvard next year are in trouble. If the status is not reverted, then Harvard cannot have international students in the coming year, she said.

The revocation of Harvard’s SEVP status does not immediately invalidate student visas, according to Vijay. Instead, she said the agency is likely to give students some grace period to determine how they will respond before taking more drastic measures. “They did not say 15 days or 60 days or two days — nothing,” Vijay said. “When we get such clients, we tell them to ‘hurry up,’ and within 15 days at best, try to transfer.”

Students who transfer to an SEVP-certified university would be able to retain a valid I-20, and thus avoid losing their visas. But the transfer deadline for many universities was over in March, which means that the students’ status in the US would be in jeopardy while they wait for applications to open.