WASHINGTON, July 3: The US Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) has implemented an Internet-based tracking system to monitor foreign students and more easily catch those who violate their visas, officials said on Tuesday.

The Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, or SEVIS, which started operating on Monday, is part of Washington’s effort to boost surveillance of visitors to the United States.

Schools hosting foreign students are required to enrol in the system by Jan 30, forcing them to prove they are able to provide the education those students entered the United States to receive.

“SEVIS promises to revolutionize the way information about foreign students is shared between schools and the INS,” INS Commissioner James Ziglar said.

Some 660,000 foreigners held visas to study in the United States last year, and many are able to elude efforts to police their activities.

Earlier this year, US lawmakers mandated better tracking by 2005 of the 35 million foreign visitors who land in the United States annually, in the wake of the Sept 11 attacks.

In addition, 41 of the 47 foreign-born individuals who were charged, pleaded guilty or were convicted of involvement in terrorism on US soil in the last 10 years had been approved for a visa by an American consulate overseas.

Schools will use the system to alert immigration officials of the status of foreign students, including anything that might violate their visas.—AFP