F-1转学转的是SEVIS记录不是重新办签证：同一编号跟着走，新项目须在五个月内开学
F-1 学生在美国换学校，办的不是新签证，而是 SEVIS 记录的转移。美国国土安全部的 SEVIS 帮助中心说明，学生到新学校开始全日制学习时，SEVIS 记录必须转到新学校，好处是学生保留原来的 SEVIS 编号和历史记录。转学可以在项目进行中办，也可以在完成一个项目、开始另一个学位或层级之前办。
能转的前提有三条：目标学校必须是另一所 F-1 类别的 SEVP 认证学校；要先拿到新学校的录取，再找现在学校的指定校方代表（DSO）启动转移；按最佳做法，交给 DSO 的材料包括新学校的录取确认、书面转移申请、新学校的 SEVIS 学校代码和新学校 DSO 的联系方式。法规（8 CFR 214.2(f)(8)）还写明，学生符合条件时，DSO 不得以财务或商业等理由拒绝转移记录，F-2 家属的记录会随主申请人一并转移。
时间线上有两个硬节点。新项目必须在转移释放日或现项目完成日中较早者起五个月内的第一个可入学学期开始；在 OPT 期间转学的，新课也要在释放日或 OPT 结束日中较早者起五个月内开始。释放日一到，原学校就不能再碰这份记录，新学校据此签发转移 I-20，学生要在新项目开始日期前后15天内向新学校报到并注册全日制课程。
还有一条容易被忽略：所有 F-1 就业授权在转移释放日当天终止，包括校内工作和 OPT，哪怕工作许可卡还没到期也一样。打算转学又在工作的学生，排释放日之前要先把这一条算进去。（来源：美国国土安全部）
An F-1 Transfer Moves Your SEVIS Record, Not Your Visa: Same SEVIS ID, a New Program Within Five Months, and a Report Within 15 Days
When an F-1 student changes schools inside the United States, what moves is the SEVIS record, not the visa. The Department of Homeland Security's SEVIS Help Hub explains that when a student begins full-time studies at a new school, the SEVIS record must be transferred to that school, which lets the student keep the original SEVIS ID and history. A transfer can happen during an academic program, or after completing one program and before starting a different degree program or level.
Three conditions frame the process. The new school must be another F-1 SEVP-certified school. The student must be accepted first, then work with the current school's designated school official (DSO) to start the transfer, providing as a best practice the written confirmation of acceptance, a written request to begin the transfer, the SEVIS school code for the new school, and the new DSO's contact information. Under the regulation at 8 CFR 214.2(f)(8), a DSO may not refuse to transfer the record of an eligible student accepted by another SEVP-certified school for any reason, including financial or business reasons, and F-2 dependents transfer with the F-1 student.
Two deadlines are firm. The new program must begin with the first available session within five months of the earlier of the transfer release date or the current program completion date, with the same five-month rule measured from the release date or the OPT end date for students on post-completion OPT. On the release date the record deactivates at the old school, the new school creates the transfer Form I-20, and the student must report to the new school within 15 days of the program start date and enroll in a full course of study.
One consequence is easy to miss: all F-1 employment is canceled and must stop on the transfer release date, including on-campus work and OPT, even if the employment authorization document has time left on it. Students who are working should factor that date in before they set the release date with their DSO. (Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security)
来源：美国国土安全部
发布：GSM·美国（发布链接）
图片来源：图：美国一所大学教学楼外走过的学生（资料图）。照片中一人穿 Tulane 字样的卫衣。Wikimedia Commons 图片。 / Photo: Students walking outside a campus building in the United States (file photo); one wears a Tulane sweatshirt. Image via Wikimedia Commons.
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