USCIS announced that the initial registration period for the FY 2022 H-1B cap will be from noon (ET) March 9, 2021 to noon (ET) March 25, 2021.

DHS is delaying the effective date of its January 7, 2021 H-1B Cap Selection final rule to December 31, 2021. That rule originally had an effective date of March 9, 2021. This means that for the upcoming FY 2022 H-1B cap season, USCIS will apply the current regulations (random selection) to any H-1B cap registration period that takes place before December 31, 2021. On February 5, 2021, USCIS announced that the initial registration period for the FY 2022 H-1B cap will be from 12:00 p.m. (ET) March 9, 2021 through 12:00 p.m. (ET) March 25, 2021.

On January 28, 2021, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia found that "DHS did not exceed its statutory authority in issuing the 2016 OPT Program Rule." This means the court concluded that both the standard 12-month OPT and the STEM OPT extension programs were lawfully within DHS's authority to promulgate. WashTech has appealed the decision.

On February 1, 2021, the Department of Labor will publish a notice proposing a 60-day delay of the effective date of its January 14, 2021 "Strengthening Wage Protections" rule, from March 15, 2021 to May 14, 2021.

A January 25, 2021 Proclamation by President Biden continues the 14-day U.S. entry restrictions on individuals who were recently present in the Schengen Area, UK, Ireland, Brazil, China or Iran, and, effective January 30, 2021, adds South Africa to the list of countries.

On the last full day of his presidency, Donald Trump issued a Presidential Memorandum to the Secretaries of State and Homeland Security, "to defer the removal of any national of Venezuela, or alien without nationality who last habitually resided in Venezuela," subject to certain conditions and exceptions. The Biden Administration has not yet taken any action regarding this Trump memo, so it is unclear what will become of its directives.

In a January 20, 2021 proclamation, President Biden revoked Travel Bans 4.0 and 3.0, also known as the "Muslim Travel Bans."

In a January 13, 2021 Broadcast Message, SEVP announced the creation of a new OPT Employment Compliance Unit "that will be dedicated full-time to compliance matters involving wage, hours, and compensation within OPT, the OPT extension, and Curricular Practical Training (CPT). This unit will publish a public-facing report at least annually on its findings, which will include detailed information on duties, hours, and compensation of OPT workers in a standard formatting that will allow for comparisons against DOL data...This unit will also be responsible for recommending investigations of employers and students, as needed, to Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) to ensure that the OPT programs operate in a lawful manner at U.S. worksites."

USCIS has apparently without notice changed the filing addresses for F-1 I-765 filings. NAFSA has asked USCIS and the CIS Ombudsman's Office for an explanation, particularly about how applications filed at the old address will be handled.

On January 8, 2021, DHS will publish a final rule that will modify the cap-subject selection process "by generally first selecting registrations based on the highest Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) prevailing wage level that the proffered wage equals or exceeds for the relevant Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code and area(s) of intended employment." Currently, cap-subject registrations received during the registration period are counted in a random selection process. The rule is set to become effective 60 days following publication.