Summary In the employment-based second preference (EB-2) category, the requirement of a job offer from a U.S. employer can be waived if an individual's services "in the sciences, arts, professions, or business" are determined to be in the "national interest." This is known as a "national interest

On September 18, 2023, the CIS Ombudsman posted a revised tip sheet titled How F-1 Students Seeking Optional Practical Training (OPT) Can Avoid Form I-765 Delays. The revision corrects an error in the prior (May 8, 2023) tip sheet that NAFSA brought to the office's attention. An Ombudsman's office

A Department of State (DOS) interim final rule published at 88 FR 18249 (March 28, 2023) allowed digital signing and electronic transmission of exchange visitor Form DS-2019, effective April 27, 2023. Forms DS-3036, DS-3037, and DS-7002 may also be digitally signed and electronically transmitted

A Department of State (DOS) final rule published at 88 FR 18243 (March 28, 2023) raises key visa processing fees, effective June 17, 2023. For example, the Machine Readable Visa (MRV) fee for F-1, J-1, and other non-petition-based visas rises 15.6%, and the MRV fee for petition-based categories such

On February 22, 2023, USCIS added basic content on F-1 Special Student Relief (SSR) off-campus employment authorization to the USCIS Policy Manual. The new content confirms that Form I-765 code (c)(3)(iii) should be used when requesting SSR off-campus employment authorization, and that USCIS should

In February, 2023, the Department of State (DOS) revised its policies to now allow consular officers to issue an F or M student visa up to 365 days in advance of a new student's I-20 program start date. See: A February 21, 2023 DOS tweet, and content on the DOS Student Visa Page (updated on February

From January 29 to April 1, 2024, the Department of State ran a pilot program to test the resumption of domestic visa renewal for H-1B applicants who were renewing an H-1B visa that was issued by: Mission Canada with an issuance date from January 1, 2020, through April 1, 2023; or Mission India with

For a two-year period starting around January 25, 2023, USCIS will once again "bundle the adjudication of the Form I-539 and Form I-765, where applicable, for H-4 and L-2 derivatives with the underlying Form I-129 when these forms are properly filed together regardless of whether they are filed

On January 11, 2023, NAFSA submitted a comment letter in response to Docket No. ICEB-2021-0016, Removal of Obsolete Procedures and Requirements Related to F, J, and M Nonimmigrants, an interim final rule published at 87 FR 75891 (December 12, 2022). Read NAFSA's comment letter View NAFSA's page on