Adviser's Manual 360 News Feed

On December 20, 2023 USCIS added F and M student content to the USCIS Policy Manual. A Public Engagement Division message states: "This guidance consolidates existing policy. USCIS expects that this will provide welcome clarity to international students and U.S. educational institutions on a wealth of topics, including eligibility requirements, school transfers, practical training, and on- and off-campus employment." Public feedback on the new content is due by January 22, 2024.

On December 15, 2023, USCIS began transitioning the filing location for Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing, when filed for a pending Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers, from the service centers to appropriate USCIS lockboxes. Starting on or after January 14, 2024, USCIS will reject any Form I-907 filed for a pending Form I-140 that is received at the previous service center address.

On December 19, 2023, NAFSA submitted a comment letter focusing on various aspects of the proposed H-1B modernization rule.

Two DHS Acquisition Planning Forecast System notices show that in 2024 DHS plans recompetition solicitations for two contracts that support SEVP and SEVIS.

Twice per year, in the Spring and Fall, all agencies must prepare a regulatory agenda that lists each regulatory action the agency expects to work on within the next 12 months. On December 7, 2023, the administration published the Fall 2023 regulatory agenda.

NAFSA and its partners in the U.S. for Success Coalition sent a letter to DOS and DHS urging them to make permanent important visa interview waiver authorities scheduled to expire on December 31, 2023. The letter asks in the alternative that the waiver authority be extended "until the agencies produce and implement a plan to maintain and improve current visa interview appointment wait times."

Starting November 13, 2023, petitioners filing Form I-140 (immigrant visa petition) and Form I-907 (premium processing) concurrently should use USCIS lockbox filing addresses rather than USCIS Service Center addresses. This change in filing location does not yet apply if you are filing Form I-907 for a currently pending Form I-140, or if you are filing Form I-140 with an associated application (such as Form I-765, Form I-131, or Form I-485).

NAFSA has joined with several other organizations and industry partners to form a new coalition dedicated to supporting international students throughout each step of their journey in the United States. The U.S. for Success Coalition will engage with members of Congress and government officials to remove barriers and find solutions focused on increasing and diversifying the community of international students choosing the U.S. for study, research, and work.

Starting November 13, 2023, the USCIS Potomac Service Center (PSC) "can no longer receive paper responses to correspondence such as Notices of Intent to Deny (NOID), Notices of Intent to Revoke (NOIR), Intents to Deny (ITD), Requests for Evidence (RFE) or supporting documentation for filings currently pending at the PSC... All mailed correspondence intended for cases processed by the PSC must be mailed to the Texas Service Center (TSC), unless otherwise noted... To avoid any processing delays, applicants and their representatives should instead upload their responses to their USCIS online account (for receipt notices that start with IOE-) or mail them to the Texas Service Center."

In a Federal Register notice published on October 31, 2023 but retroactively effective on October 20, 2023, the Department of State (DOS) extended special student relief (SSR) benefits for J-1 college and university students until April 19, 2025.