Immigration and Naturalization Services officials from the Omaha office have asked universities and colleges in Iowa and Nebraska to submit records for currently enrolled international students.

Dennis Peterson, ISU international education services director, said the colleges have been asked to provide each international students’ name, home country, address, phone number, major, year in school and expected graduation date – all of which is already public information.

Colleges and universities have also been asked to submit names of international students who began the enrollment process but never attended college, he said.

“It is clear that the immigration services has the authority to ask for this information, because it is public information, and the same information that’s provided in the phone book,” Peterson said.

“The immigration services are rethinking some of the information they are asking for, but we may not be required by law to give that to them.”

Legislation is pending that may change the information institutions are required to provide, but there have not been any policy changes due to the Sept. 11 attacks, Peterson said.

“There’s the appearance that this is a new thing, but they have been asking for this information since they started issuing the F-1 visas in 1954,” he said.

After an international student is admitted to a U.S. school, they receive an I-20 form from the school’s admissions office.

On this form, they are required to agree to release the information so it can be made public, Peterson said.

The I-20 form is one of many forms a student must complete to receive their F-1 immigrant status, better known as a student visa, he said.

“If you go to a university, a technical school or even a beauty school, you have to fill out this form,” he said

“There have been other times in history they have asked for this information, and we’ve always had it ready anytime the immigration services ask for it.”

Patricia Parker, assistant director of admissions, said Iowa State might have more work in the future when admitting international students.

“It depends on what we end up having to provide,” Parker said.

“There’s a difference between what we’re required to provide by law and what we’ve provided all along,” he said. “If we’re required to provide more information, it will cause some difficulties for the admissions office as well as the international students office.”