New SEVP Policy Guidance is directed to the practice of releasing I-20s to "recruiters," but its language reaches more broadly than that.

On May 31, 2019, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) agreed to review the backlog of immigration cases at USCIS, following a request from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) and House Democrats.

Beginning June 10, 2019, OFLC will accept online submissions of the Application for Prevailing Wage Determination (Form ETA-9141) only through its new FLAG System (Foreign Labor Application Gateway).

The Department of State (DOS) has added a "social media" question to Form DS-160, the standard online application used by individuals to apply for a nonimmigrant visa. The item requires applicants to use a drop-down list to indicate the social media platforms that they have used during the five years preceding their visa application, and to provide any identifiers or handles they used on those platforms. DOS also added a similar item to the Form DS-260 immigrant visa application.

The final SEVIS fee rule becomes effective on June 24, 2019. It will raises the I-901 SEVIS fee paid by F-1 and M-1 students and J-1 exchange visitors, raise the initial school certification fee that SEVP charges new F and M schools, and add a new $1250 fee for F and M school recertification, among other changes.

On May 3, 2019, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina issued a nationwide preliminary injunction that temporarily prevents the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from enforcing the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) August 8, 2018 policy memo that sought to change how days of unlawful presence are counted following a violation of F, M, or J nonimmigrant status.

In March 2019 the Social Security Administration (SSA) resumed sending EDCOR notices, commonly known as "no-match" letters. SSA sends these notices to employees or employers when a name or Social Security Number (SSN) reported on Form W-2 or on self-employment reports does not match SSA's records.

"Beginning in May 2019, I-94 numbers will be alphanumeric. Currently, I-94 numbers are 11 digits long and only contain numbers. In order to minimize program impact resulting from the depletion of numeric-only I-94 numbers and to create a long-term solution for the creation of new numbers, CBP is switching to alphanumeric I-94s. I-94 numbers will remain at 11 characters but will follow the format of 9 digits, followed by a letter in the 10th position, and a digit in the 11th position. Unexpired I-94s issued in the current numeric-only format will continue to be valid until the Admit Until Date printed on the paper I-94 and/or the date displayed on the public I-94 website."

  The United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) recommends in a March, 2019 report that DHS "further enhance controls over schools and school employees to help mitigate fraud."

On December 3, 2018, DHS proposed a system where cap-subject employers would have to pre-register to secure an H-1B slot before filing an H-1B petition. Public comments are due on or before January 2, 2019.