ICE's current Special Student Relief (SSR) notice for F-1 students from Syria is effective April 22, 2021 until September 30, 2022, for F-1 students who were in the United States as of April 22, 2021. A Federal Register notice scheduled to be published on August 1, 2022 will extend SSR until April 1, 2024, for Syrian F-1 students who will be in the United States as of August 1, 2022. DHS will also be extending Syrian Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for eligible individuals.

In a July 25, 2022 notice, USCIS stated: "In an effort to take the lessons learned from our pandemic posture, USCIS has been evaluating which flexibilities can and should be extended permanently. As a result of this evaluation, the reproduced signature flexibility announced in March, 2020, will become permanent policy on July 25, 2022."

"On November 15, 2021, the Employment and Training Administration issued a Federal Register notice (FRN) informing the public that the Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) was updating Appendix A to the Preamble–Education and Training Categories by Occupational Information Network (O*NET)–Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) Occupations. Appendix A is a list of professional occupations that serves as a guide for employers to distinguish between professional and non-professional occupations in order to comply with the professional recruitment requirements of the PERM program. The FRN stated that OFLC intends to review BLS's occupational and education data each year to publish a new list of occupations on its website, even when BLS data remain the same from the previous year... OFLC is releasing this year's Appendix A, implementing the new list of professional occupations, effective July 1, 2022."

The Spring 2022 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions was posted on Reginfo.gov on June 21, 2022. NAFSA has compiled the immigration-related regulatory actions most relevant to institutions that invite international students and scholars to the United States.

All prevailing wage determinations issued on or after July 1, 2022 will be issued with the 2018 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code and with the latest Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) data set, regardless of the date of submission.

As of 12:01AM ET on June 12, 2022, CDC will no longer require air passengers traveling from a foreign country to the United States to show a negative COVID-19 viral test or documentation of recovery from COVID-19 before they board their flight. Nonimmigrants entering the United States will, however, still be subject to the requirement to be fully vaccinated with an acceptable COVID-19 vaccine.

The Department of Labor Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) will host a two-hour webinar from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Eastern time on June 21, 2022, covering implementation of the 2018 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system. OFLC will begin using the 2018 SOC system on July 1, 2022, in place of the 2010 SOC system.

On June 7, 2022, DHS designated Cameroon for F-1 Special Student Relief (SSR), effective June 7, 2022 until December 7, 2023. DHS also designated Cameroon for Temporary Protected Status (TPS).

In Broadcast Message 2205-03: ICE Clarifies Continuation of March 2020 Guidance for the 2022-23 Academic Year (May 31, 2022), SEVP "reissued" its April 18, 2022 COVID guidance, but "clarified" that "Students who enrolled after March 9, 2020, must adhere to SEVP's existing regulations regarding online learning, found at 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(f)(6)." That statement challenges the practice (based on language that remains unchanged in SEVP Broadcast Messages and FAQs) of offering hybrid programs of study to new and Initial students who were not enrolled on March 9, 2020.

USCIS' Optional Practical Training (OPT) for F-1 Students page affirms the 50% ratio that USCIS applies in OPT adjudications when counting part-time pre-completion OPT.