SB 1198, as introduced, Huff. International student exchange visitor placement organizations.
Existing law, the Uniform Supervision of International Student Exchange Visitor Placement Organizations Act of 1994, requires international student exchange visitor placement organizations to register with the Attorney General, meet certain requirements, and perform specified duties, including providing prescribed information to participating students, host families, and school districts. That act requires the Attorney General to establish and maintain the Registry of International Student Exchange Visitor Placement Organizations and to adopt regulations to establish standards and requirements for organizations in a manner consistent with specified federal regulations and for the administration of the act. The act establishes the Registry of International Student Exchange Visitor Placement Organizations Fund in the State Treasury and requires the deposit of all registration and renewal fees collected into that fund for the purposes of administering the act. The act authorizes a school district to require proof of registration with the Attorney General from any organization seeking to place an international student exchange visitor in the school district as a condition to agreeing to enroll that student. A violation of the act, including the failure to register, is a misdemeanor.
This bill would establish specific fees relating to the schooling and care of a student that may be imposed on a student. The bill would require an organization to disclose all charges imposed on students to a prospective student and to submit a schedule of those charges to the Attorney General for publication on the Internet Web site for the registry. The bill would impose other restrictions on an organization’s administration of student funds, including a requirement that an organization that has received tuition for schooling, if the student resigns, is expelled, or transfers from the school, refund within 15 days of the event a prorated amount of that tuition directly to the student. The bill would make such an organization, upon failure to comply with that last requirement, liable to the student for up to 10 times that prorated amount.
The bill would require a school to publish, and provide upon request by a prospective student, a full listing of all the courses offered by the school, a proposed class schedule, and graduation requirement plan or worksheet. The bill would require a school to disclose to prospective students the percentage of foreign students at the school. The failure to comply with these publication and disclosure requirements would make a school liable for a full refund of fees and tuition to any student being expelled, transferring, or resigning from the school.
The bill would impose other requirements on a school’s administration of a student’s tuition, travel permission, and documents, including a specific federal nonimmigrant student status form. The bill would provide for certain related fees and refunds, including a requirement that, if a student requests a transfer, and any required tuition and fees for services provided have been paid, a school transfer the records of the student and the student’s federal nonimmigrant student status form within 3 business days of that request. The failure to comply with that requirement would subject a school to the requirement to refund to the student the total tuition and fees paid to that school by the student, and, if it does not comply with that refund requirement, make the school liable for up to 10 times the amount due to the student, plus attorney’s fees.
The bill would require an organization or other entity that provides or facilitates homestay for a student under the act to ensure that the host family complies with specific requirements. The bill would make a host family coresponsible with the school and a parent, relative, or any other individual or entity responsible for the overall welfare of the student and would require a host family to ensure that student transportation and nutrition needs are met. The bill would require unused portions of a host family charge imposed on a student no longer residing with the host family to be refunded to the student.
By imposing new requirements under the act, the violation of which would be a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Section 12621 of the Government Code is
2amended to read:
For the purposes of thisbegin delete article, the following terms begin insert article:end insert
4shall have the following meaning unless the context clearly requires
5otherwise:end delete
6(a) “I-20 form” means a federal Form I-20 titled “Certificate
7of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant Student Status.”
8(a)
end delete
9begin insert(b)end insert “International student exchange visitor placement
10organization” or “organization” means a person, partnership,
11corporation, or other entity that regularly arranges the placement
12of international student exchange visitors for the purpose, in whole
13or in part, of providing the students with the opportunity to attend
14a school that maintains kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive,
15in the United States.
16(b)
end delete
17begin insert(c)end insert “International student exchange visitor” or “student” means
18any person 18 years of age or under,
or up to 21 years of age if
19enrolled or to be enrolled in high school in this state, who enters
20the United States on a nonimmigrant visa and who is placed by an
21international student exchange visitor placement organization in
22an elementary or secondary school or other educational program
23in this state.
24(c)
end delete
P4 1begin insert(d)end insert “Nonimmigrant visa” means a visa category assigned by the
2federal Immigration and Naturalization Servicebegin insert or a successor
3agencyend insert pursuant to Section 1101 of Title 8 of the United States
4Code to nonresident aliens whose primary purpose for visiting the
5United States
is to study at the elementary or secondary school
6level or participate in any other educational program.
7(d)
end delete
8begin insert(e)end insert “USIA” means the United States Information Agency
9designated to administer the Mutual Educational and Cultural
10Exchange Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. Sec. 2451; 22 C.F.R. 514.1 et
11begin delete seq.).end deletebegin insert seq.), or a successor agency.end insert
12(f) “Registered
organization” means an organization registered
13in accordance with this article, including, but not limited to, an
14agent, guardian, or housing or homestay agency.
15(e)
end delete
16begin insert(g)end insert “Registry” means the Registry of International Student
17Exchange Visitor Placement Organizations established pursuant
18to Section 12622.
Section 12626.5 is added to the Government Code, to
20read:
(a) An organization shall disclose all charges imposed
22on students to a prospective student and shall submit a schedule
23of those charges to the Attorney General for publication on the
24Internet Web site for the registry. The organization, upon request,
25shall substantiate disclosure to a student pursuant to this
26subdivision. An organization may fulfill the requirement of this
27subdivision by providing to a student the link to the Internet Web
28site for the registry.
29(b) A registered organization may charge a student the following
30fees for services provided:
31(1) A one-time facilitation fee, not to exceed six thousand dollars
32($6,000).
33(2) A monthly guardian fee, not to exceed five hundred dollars
34($500) per month.
35(3) A one-time host family placement fee, not to exceed one
36thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500).
37(4) A homestay fee, not to exceed two hundred dollars ($200)
38per month, if the agent and homestay agency is a registered
39organization. If the homestay agency plays any role in the
P5 1placement of the student in a school or guardianship, the home
2stay agency shall also be a registered organization.
3(c) An organization acting as a facilitator shall not borrow
4money from a student or the family of a student and shall not use
5the funds received from a student for any purpose not directly
6related to the education and housing of the individual student. If
7the organization holds money on a student’s behalf, the money
8shall be placed in
a separate bank account and shall not commingle
9with other funds, and the organization shall keep an accounting of
10the disbursement of funds in that bank account on behalf of the
11student.
12(d) An organization that has received tuition for schooling, if
13the student resigns, is expelled, or transfers from the school, shall
14refund within 15 days of the event a prorated amount of that tuition
15directly to the student. If the organization does not comply with
16this subdivision, it shall be liable to the student for up to 10 times
17that amount, regardless of any provision to the contrary in any
18agreement between the organization and the student, parent of the
19student, or guardian entered into or amended on or after January
201, 2017.
21(e) (1) If a student requests a transfer, and any required tuition
22and fees for services provided have been paid, a school shall
23transfer
the records of the student and the student’s I-20 form
24within three business days of that request. A school that does not
25comply with this paragraph shall refund to the student the total
26tuition and fees paid to that school by the student. A school that
27does not comply with that refund requirement shall be liable for
28up to 10 times the amount due to the student, plus attorney’s fees.
29(2) If a student requests a transfer from a school, the school may
30impose on the student a transfer fee not to exceed seven hundred
31fifty dollars ($750) if the student and the parent, guardian, and
32facilitator had notice of the transfer fee and there was no
33misconduct on the part of the school.
34(f) Except as provided in subdivision (e), a school shall provide
35a student with copies of documents relating to the student within
36three business days of a request by the student. A school that does
37not comply
with this subdivision shall pay in damages to the
38student as a sum equal to the total tuition and fees paid to that
39school by the student for the current term.
P6 1(g) A school may charge fees for English as a Second Language
2(ESL) classes, not to exceed three thousand dollars ($3,000) per
3year.
4(h) A school shall accommodate a student that requests to return
5to his or her home for any school break that exceeds 10 days,
6including, but not limited to, providing a travel authorization
7signature on the student’s I-20 form.
8(i) A school shall accommodate a student needing a replacement
9I-20 form within five business days of notification. A school may
10impose a replacement fee of up to two hundred fifty dollars ($250)
11for the first request for a replacement document and up to five
12hundred dollars ($500) for subsequent
requests. The student shall
13bear any costs for postage or delivery of a replacement document.
14(j) A school shall publish, and provide upon request by a
15prospective student, a full listing of all the courses offered by the
16school, including the semester a course is offered, a proposed class
17schedule, and a graduation requirement plan or worksheet. A school
18shall disclose to prospective students the percentage of foreign
19students at the school, broken down by campus if the school
20operates multiple campuses. If a school fails to disclose this
21information in a timely and accurate manner, it shall be liable for
22a full refund of fees and tuition to any student being expelled,
23transferring, or resigning from the school.
24(k) A school that offers host family placement shall not make
25its placement program mandatory for students.
Section 12626.7 is added to the Government Code, to
27read:
(a) An organization or other entity that provides or
29facilitates homestay for a student under this article, either
30temporary or longterm, shall ensure that the host family complies
31with all of the following:
32(1) Provides a room for the student with a door that has a lock
33operable by an occupant of the room, a smoke detector, and, for
34each occupant of the room, a permanent noninflatable bed. A room
35shall be either private or shared with no more than one other student
36in accordance with this paragraph. Students sharing a room shall
37be the same gender, and the sharing shall be by mutual consent of
38the student’s parent, guardian, and homestay facilitator.
39(2) Provides a key or
combination to allow entry to and exit
40from through an outer door of the home.
P7 1(3) Provides an alarm code if necessary for entry and exit of the
2home.
3(4) Provides window coverings to windows in the student’s
4room to ensure privacy.
5(b) A host family shall have coresponsibility with the school
6and a parent, relative, or any other individual or entity responsible
7for the overall welfare of the student and shall ensure that student
8transportation and nutrition needs are met.
9(c) Unused portions of a host family charge imposed on a student
10no longer residing with the host family shall be refunded to the
11student.
No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
13Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
14the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
15district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
16infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
17for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of
18the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within
19the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
20Constitution.
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