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Note

February 2023 Update: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) continues to experience significant processing delays that are causing increased response times for both automated second-step verification and school initiated third-step verification. DHS and FSA are currently working on system changes that are expected to improve response times.

Please continue to follow the guidance in this Electronic Announcement. We thank the community for its continued patience.

Currently, the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system (SAVE), used to verify the immigration status of students who claim to be eligible noncitizens, is experiencing significant processing delays that are causing increased response times for both automated second-step verification and school initiated third-step verification. It may take three or more weeks for SAVE to provide a response.

To mitigate these delays, please do not complete “Resend Record to Matches” in FAA Access to CPS Online if you receive a “No Cases Found” message when searching for a student’s case in SAVE. This generates a new SAVE case for the student while the first case is still processing and will not result in a faster response. Instead, wait for SAVE to provide a response. If the response is “Resubmit Doc,” submit the student’s documentation for third step verification. SAVE will provide a response; given the current processing delays, response times will be longer than the standard three to five business days.

For additional guidance on the DHS-SAVE system and the DHS Match Flags, see the SAVE Instructions for U.S. Department of Education (School) Users 3.0 document located on the DHS-SAVE Electronic Third Step Verification page of the Knowledge Center website. For assistance with interpreting a SAVE response, please email the student’s DHS Verification number to applicationsystemsdivision@ed.gov.

Last Modified: 02/22/2023