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Is this US school SEVP certified, and is my I-20 real?

No website, including this one, can confirm your own I-20: only the school can. Search the school on the official Study in the States school search, and remember that only the school's Designated School Official (DSO) issues a Form I-20, so agents cannot issue or hold it for you. The SEVIS fee for an F visa applicant is $350, and you pay it yourself and keep the receipt.

Step 1: check the school is SEVP certified

The Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) certifies schools to enrol F-1 and M-1 students. The official school search on the Study in the States website lists SEVP-certified schools and programs eligible to enrol F-1 and M-1 students.

Being on the list is not proof of admission, a Form I-20 or a visa. It also does not tell you whether your own programme is approved, so ask the school.

  1. Open the Study in the States school search by typing the address from the Sources list.
  2. Search for the school's name and check the campus you plan to attend.
  3. If it is not listed, ask the school's international student office why, before you pay anyone.

Step 2: who issues the Form I-20

The Form I-20 is the Certificate of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant Student Status. A Designated School Official (DSO) at an SEVP-certified school issues it. Recruiters have no role in issuing or handling Forms I-20.

So if an agent says they can get, buy, speed up or keep your I-20, that is a warning sign. The school sends it to you. Keep it yourself.

How to confirm your I-20 is real

We did not find an official tool that lets a student check an I-20 online. The safest way is to ask the school directly.

  1. Find the school's website yourself by typing it or searching for it, not from a link the agent sent.
  2. Find the international student office or DSO contact on that website.
  3. Email them from your own account. Ask them to confirm that they issued an I-20 in your name, and what name and date it carries.
  4. Ask how and where they take any deposit. Pay only through the school's own payment page.

Step 3: the SEVIS fee

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement lists the I-901 SEVIS fee for F or M visa applicants as $350 for full payment. It says you can pay by credit card on fmjfee.com, or by check, money order or Western Union.

Pay it yourself, in your own name, and keep the receipt. Type the address yourself rather than using a link from a message. If someone offers to pay it for you in cash or asks you to send them the money, check with the school first.

Phone calls that ask for money

An older notice from Study in the States (2015, which says it may be out of date) says SEVP will not call you to collect payments or personal information, and tells students to hang up immediately. Other official bodies give the same kind of warning about callers who ask for money. Read 'Fake calls from UKVI, FIA or the police' (UKVI is UK Visas and Immigration, and FIA is the Federal Investigation Agency) for what to do.

Questions people ask

Can an agent get my I-20 faster?

No. Only the school's Designated School Official issues the I-20, and recruiters have no role in issuing or handling it.

How much is the SEVIS fee?

ICE lists $350 for F visa applicants as of our check on 13 October 2026. Check the ICE page again before you pay, because fees can change.

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Sources

Official and institution sources

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