Following the pause of visa appointments in the F, M, and J nonimmigrant categories announced on May 27, the Department of State (“DOS”) has now resumed scheduling FMJ visa appointments, and at the same time introduced significant changes to the vetting process for...
The landscape of student visas in the United States is undergoing significant change, posing challenges for students, universities, and businesses involved in the immigration process. We are closely monitoring these developments to provide informed guidance to our...
Summary: On December 18, 2024, U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) published a Final Rule in the Federal Register (89 FR 103054, 12/18/24) that will bring changes to H-1B eligibility requirements and definitions (including the definition of “specialty...
International students who graduate from U.S. universities are able to remain here and receive training through work experience for up to twelve months. This is known as Optional Practical Training (OPT). Students who graduate from a designated science, technology,...
In a move to strengthen the United States’ position in the global artificial intelligence (AI) landscape, on October 30, 2023, the Biden Administration issued an Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI),...
July 29, 2020 update:On July 24, 2020, ICE issued “clarifying guidance” regarding the gaps noted in our July 19 below. Specifically, universities are now prohibited from issuing I-20s to new or “initial” students, and so students starting new programs will not be...
As described in a prior post, on May 10, 2018, USCIS announced a policy memorandum titled “Accrual of Unlawful Presence and F, J, and M Nonimmigrants” (“memo” or “unlawful presence memo”). This memo was finalized on August 9, 2018. As background, F, J, and M nonimmigrant visas are for international students, scholars, and participants in international educational/cultural exchange programs (including interns and trainees). In brief, the memorandum would have changed the start of accrual of “unlawful presence” for F, J, and M nonimmigrants from the day after DHS made a formal finding that the individual violated their nonimmigrant status to the day after the individual engaged in an unauthorized activity. Unlawful presence often has serious, irreversible consequences such as bars to re-entry to the United States. This memo essentially undid years of law and policy that allow for notice and due process before a bar is applied.
The memo has been the subject of litigation, and on February 6, 2020, in the case of Guilford College et al. v. Chad Wolf, U.S. Department of Homeland Security et al., No. 1:18CV891 (M.D. N.C. Feb. 6, 2020), the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina granted the Plaintiff’s motion for partial summary judgment and issued a permanent, nationwide injunction enjoining USCIS from enforcing the memo
On May 10, 2018, USCIS announced a draft policy memorandum titled “Accrual of Unlawful Presence and F, J, and M Nonimmigrants.” F, J, and M nonimmigrant visas are for international students, scholars, and participants in international educational/cultural exchange programs (including interns and trainees). The draft policy is slated to become final and effective on August 9, 2018.
In the draft policy, USCIS announced a dramatic change to the treatment of “status violations” by individuals in the U.S. on F, J, and M visas. A status violation is any failure to meet a term or condition of the visa, including unknowing and unintentional technical violations (e.g., lowering one’s course load below a certain number of credit hours, engaging in casual work, accruing too many days of non-work after school completion, etc.).
News Release from Jewell Stewart & Pratt – April 21, 2017 On March 11, 2016, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a Final Rule that provided for, among other items, 24-month extensions to Optional Practical Training (OPT) work authorization for...
