Adviser's Manual 360 News Feed

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.

DOL implemented a revised ETA Form 9035/9035E Labor Condition Application (LCA) on November 19, 2018. DOL will continue to process the prior version of the LCA filed before November 19, 2018, and prior versions of the ETA 9035 that are certified by DOL can continue to be used for H-1B purposes. iCERT has been updated with the revised form.

The Department of State (DOS) Exchange Visitor Program has published a revised (Version 2.0 October 2018) Guide for Responsible Officers and Alternate Responsible Officers. The prior version of the Guide was dated October 2007.

SEVP announced that SEVIS Release 6.41, scheduled to be implemented on October 26, 2018, will change how SEVIS calculates days of unemployment while a student is on standard or STEM post-completion OPT. The unemployment counter on the student's Employment Information page in SEVIS will also be updated. The current counter displays only consecutive days of unemployment. The new counter will display the aggregate count.