Adviser's Manual 360 News Feed

NAFSA has updated its compilation of immigration-related items in the Fall 2020 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions, which appears to have been published at some point in December, 2020.

On December 4, 2020, a U.S. District Court ruling ordered DHS to restore the full DACA program including "accepting first-time requests for consideration of deferred action under DACA, renewal requests, and advance parole requests, based on the terms of the DACA program prior to September 5, 2017."

Read the multi-stakeholder comment letter submitted by the Compete America Coalition and co-signed by NAFSA and other organizations. "Compete America joined 127 other multi-sector organizations in sending a letter to DHS expressing concerns with the unusually short 30-day comment period for the H-1B lottery prioritization NPRM issued on November 2, 2020."

On December 1, 2020, a U.S. District Court set aside Department of Labor and Department of Homeland Security interim final rules that impacts the H-1B specialty occupation category. The court found that the agencies did not have just cause to promulgate the October 8, 2020 rules without notice and comment.

Read NAFSA's recommendations to the Biden-Harris administration for key administrative and congressional actions that will create a more welcoming environment for international students and scholars and ensure the global competence of our college graduates through study abroad.

On November 18, 2020, the Department of State (DOS) issued Guidance Directive 2020-01 - Confucius Institutes, which supersedes prior guidance on the relationship of college and university J-1 exchange programs to Confucius Institutes and associated activities at K-12 schools and universities.

On October 22, 2020, NAFSA Executive Director and CEO, Dr. Esther Brimmer, submitted a comment on behalf of NAFSA urging the Department of Homeland Security to withdraw its proposal to eliminate duration of status.

ICE announced recent OPT enforcement actions in a press release and press conference. Read about it and NAFSA's initial response on the NAFSA web site.

The NAFSA Fall 2020 Immigration Review provides a brief overview of changes in immigration law, policy, procedure, and practice over the past 6 months. Subjects include recent policy revisions affecting F students and J exchange visitors, scholar- and employment-based updates, cross-category topics, and COVID-19-related developments. Free to NAFSA members.

USCIS announced that effective October 19, 2020, it will it will raise the premium processing fee for Form I-140 and most Form I-129 premium processing requests from $1,440 to $2,500 as authorized by the Emergency Stopgap USCIS Stabilization Act.