8122024 PRA Supporting Statement 30-Day Notice

SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR

PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT SUBMISSION

OMB No. 1405-0147

Recording, Reporting and Data Collection Requirements – Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS)

Forms DS-3036, DS-3037, and DS-7000

A. JUSTIFICATION

1. The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) of the U.S. Department of State administers the Exchange Visitor Program (J-Visa) under the provisions of the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961 (MECEA), also known as the Fulbright-Hays Act, as amended (Public Law 87-256. 22 U.S.C. 2451, et seq.). This program enables U.S. Government agencies and public and private organizations to conduct a variety of educational and cultural exchange activities.

This collection of information required under 22 CFR Part 62 utilizes the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) (DS-7000) as well as two other forms: DS-3036 - Exchange Visitor Program Application and DS-3037 - Update of Information on Exchange Visitor Program Sponsor.

The Exchange Visitor Program Application and the Update of Information on Exchange Visitor Program Sponsor provide a format for interested organizations to apply for designation by the Department of State to become a sponsor, for designated sponsors to keep the Department abreast of changes in their program, and to request DS-2019 forms and brochures. These forms and logs and the information they provide are for the accuracy of administration of the Exchange Visitor Program. ECA is not requesting any changes to these collections.

Requested changes, except for an address change for our office, are to Form DS-7000, which is a list summarizing Paperwork Reduction Act hour burdens on respondents that are noted in various provisions of 22 CFR 62.

2. The DS-7000 is a catalogue of the information/data collections that occur as part of 22 CFR 62 Subparts A and B and their related numbers of responses and hour/cost burden accounting per applicable provision.

The Exchange Visitor Program Application (DS-3036) is used by United States Government agencies and public and private organizations to apply to the Department of State to become designated to administer an exchange visitor program. Approximately 60 applications are received each year. The information provided is used to determine whether the interested organization meets the requirements to receive designation as a Sponsor and, if approved, to create a database entry for tracking purposes, The Update of Information on Exchange Visitor Program Sponsor (DS-3037) is used by the approximately 1,450 designated sponsors to notify the Department of changes in the address, telephone numbers, fax numbers, etc., of the organization, and to request a change of the Responsible Officer or Alternate Responsible Officers.

3. The data collections listed on Form DS-7000 are handled partly electronically and partly in paper format. The Department has incorporated Forms DS-3036 and DS-3037 electronically into the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS). The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs administers SEVIS for the J-visa program and the Department of Homeland Security generally to meet the legislative mandate established by Subtitle D, Section 641 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility At of 1996 (P.L. 104-208). The two forms in the collection (DS-3036 and DS-3037) are not public-facing. Sponsor applicants (U.S.-based organizations) are directed to the Exchange Visitor Program (BridgeUSA) website at https://j1visa.state.gov/ under the Sponsor section (specifically to https://j1visa.state.gov/sponsors/become-a-sponsor/). Current sponsors are directed to the j1visa website at https://j1visa.state.gov/sponsors/current/ to learn about or be reminded of J-Visa program processes and requirements. Our office then grants sponsor applicants or current sponsors appropriate access to Forms 3036 or DS-3037.

In April 2024, the Department instituted an electronic Form DS-2019 for exchange visitors that sponsors may use in lieu of paper forms. This regulatory change is reflected in the entries for 22 CFR 62.12 on both the DS-7000 SEVIS and non-SEVIS spreadsheets.

4. This collection is not duplicative of any other collection.

5. Small businesses are affected by the information collection requirements in Part 62, but they do not have a significant economic impact on small business entities.

6. The information collection is used by the Department to administer the Exchange Visitor Program, such as tracking respondent and response numbers, costs, and hour burdens associated with 22 CFR 62. The DS-3036 and DS 3037 provide the Department with information to maintain the Exchange Visitor Program database on existing designated sponsors.

7. There are no special circumstances for this collection.

8. On May 14, 2024, the Department published a 60-day notice in the Federal Register in order to solicit public comments. No comments were received.

9. Respondents are not provided with any gifts or payments.

10. No promises of confidentiality are made.

11. There are no questions of a sensitive nature included in the data required.

12. Form DS-7000 lists the Department’s record keeping, reporting, and data collection information as required under 22 CFR Part 62 and the many functions performed by program sponsors (either through SEVIS or non-SEVIS-related). The attached spreadsheet (Attachment 1) contains a detailed burden accounting of data collection and reporting activities conducted through SEVIS. Total cost burden is $2,881,980. Please see the attached spreadsheet (Attachment 2) for all current non-SEVIS record keeping and data collection activities (cost burden estimated at $22,351,043.

The number of responses to the Form DS-3036 is approximately 60 applications annually. The respondents complete the form if they wish to be considered for designation as an Exchange Visitor Program sponsor. This form takes approximately 1 hour to complete and an additional 7 hours to gather supporting application documentation. The annual burden for this form is estimated to be 480 hours. The average sum for hourly weighted non-profit earnings is $22.50, therefore a total wage cost of $15,120.00 ($22.50 x the 1.4 multiplier based on FTE wage scales x 480 hours).

Designated sponsors use Form DS-3037 to notify the Department of any changes in contact information for the sponsor, to request brochures, and to request a change in Responsible or Alternate Responsible officers on their exchange program. This form takes approximately 20 minutes to complete. It is estimated that approximately 1,450 respondents will submit a minimum of two requests annually for a total 2,900 submissions (responses). The annual burden for this form is approximately 943 hours. The average mean for hourly civilian non-profit earnings is $22.50, therefore a total wage cost of $29,704.50 ($22.50 x 1.4 x 943 hours). The total cost burden for this part of the overall collection is $15,120 (Form DS-3036) + 20,704.50 (Form DS-3037) = $35,825 (rounded).

Form DS-7000, the SEVIS Electronic Application, includes the Department’s record keeping, reporting and data collection information required under 22 CFR Part 62 and the many functions performed through SEVIS by program sponsors. A detailed breakdown of the respondents, number of responses, and burden figures are attached in table format. Please see the attached spreadsheet (Attachment 1) for a detailed burden accounting of data collection and reporting activities conducted through SEVIS. Please see the attached spreadsheet (Attachment 2) for Non-SEVIS recordkeeping and data collection activities.

Respondents for this collection include designated program sponsors, applicants/potential sponsors, host families, exchange visitors, and schools and universities, yielding an estimated total of 413,950 responders per year, as follows:

Respondent	Estimate
Exchange visitor	275,000
Sponsor	1,450
Host entities	137,500
Total	413,950

The annual number of responses for the items listed in the DS-7000 are approximately 1,998,564 (20,976 for the SEVIS and 1,977,588 for the non-SEVIS method of gathering responses). The total aggregate annual hour burden for DS-7000 is estimated to be 1,986,863, (9,275 hours for the SEVIS and 1,977,588 for the non-SEVIS method of computing hour burden).

Table 1 below summarizes both DS-7000 spreadsheets (Attachments 1 and 2) shows the aggregate burden figures for all requirements under 22 CFR Part 62 for DS-7000, The total annual cost to respondents is estimated to be $25,233,023, which is based on an hourly cost burden.

Table 1:

Component	Respondents	Responses	Annual hour burden	Annual Cost burden
SEVIS	200	20,976	9,276	$2,881,980
Non-SEVIS	185,200	1,977,588	1,799,714	$22,351,043
Totals:	185,400*	1,998,564	1,808,990	$25,233,023

(* There is an overlap of respondents for SEVIS and Non-SEVIS component.)

Table 2: Table 2 below summarizes respondents, responses, hour burden, and cost burden for the DS-7000, the DS-3036 and the DS-3037.

The estimate of annual burden for the Exchange Visitor Program with all rows added is as follows:

	DS-7000	DS-3036	DS-3037	Total
Respondents	185,400	60	1,450	186,910
Responses	1,998,564	60	2,900	2,001,524
Hour burden	1,986,863	480	943	1,988,286
Cost burden	$25,233,023	$15,120	$20,705	25,268,848

14. The cost incurred by the Department is the time of staff necessary to review and analyze requests and in maintaining information in office files.

The estimated cost to the Federal Government is approximately $288,645.00. This estimate is based on the number of responses (DS-3036 – 60; DS-3037 – 2,830), the average hourly processing time (DS-3036 - 4 hours; DS-3037 – 20 min.), and the average hourly salary (DS-3036 - GS-13/5 $44.00 x 1.4 = $61.60; DS-3037 – GS-9 $25.00 x 1.4 = $35.00). The wage cost for Form DS-3036 is $14,784.00 (60 respondent times 4 hours equals 240, times $61.60). There is an application fee of $3,982.00 for an organization to complete and file an application for designation as an Exchange Visitor Program sponsor (DS-3036) which results in a total cost of $238,920.00 ($3,982.00 x 60 respondents). The printing costs for paper formats are $1,200.00 (60 responses x $20). The total cost for Form DS-3036 is $254,904.00 ($14,784 wages + $238,920 +$1,200 other misc. costs). The wage cost for Form DS-3037 is $33,810 (1450 responses x twice 20 minutes equals 966 x $35.00 = $33,810). The total cost for Form DS-3037 is $33,741 for wages + The total wage cost to the government for the collection is $288,645 ($254,904 DS-3036 + $33,741 DS-3037).

15. The number of respondents under Form DS-7000 is 185,400. The number of responses for the DS-7000 has increased by 48,799, from 1,949,765 to 1,998,564, due to changes in Part 62 resulting in the addition of provisions for sponsors to provide more transparent program information at the time of recruitment, to account for exchange visitors’ providing information to sponsors to prove their eligibility, and summaries of the host placements and housing provided by the placement, and requiring sponsors (and/or their host entities) in some Subpart B categories to provide cultural activities for exchange visitors.

16. The Department will not publish the collected information.

17. The Department will display the OMB expiration date.

18. The Department is not requesting any exceptions to the certification.

2. COLLECTIONS OF INFORMATION EMPLOYING STATISTICAL METHODS.

This collection does not employ statistical methods.