On August 8, 2017, DOS revised its FAM guidance on assessing residence abroad for F-1 students, by removing helpful prior language that had encouraged consular officers to consider the "inherent difference" between a young F-1 visa applicant and a short-term B visa applicant. The new FAM entry now

On January 23, 2019 and April 1, 2019, DOS tweaked the 90-day rule language in the Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM) in a positive direction, by removing a reference that was thought to unfairly flag students.

Summaries of public stakeholder meetings conducted by USCIS.

September 24, 2017 Presidential Proclamation implementing an indefinite entry bar for nationals of eight countries: Chad, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Syria, Venezuela, Yemen, and Somalia.

The Department of State's Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs has been systematically reviewing J exchange visitor categories for several years. On September 29, 2017, DOS sent a broadcast message to J program stakeholders, notifying them that it has begun reviewing the College and University

This NAFSA page keeps track of regulatory and procedural events related to the important current issue of government collection of personal social media information on applicants for and holders of immigration benefits.

On December 28, 2017, the U.S. diplomatic mission in Turkey announced that political conditions in that country had improved so as to "allow for the full resumption of visa services in Turkey." Because of the prior full and partial suspension of visa services earlier in Fall 2017 (see Background

The Exchange Visitor Subcommittee of NAFSA's International Student and Scholar Regulatory Practice Committee (ISSRP) prepared a summary of the questions and responses from the 2017 Annual Conference session, "U.S. Department of State and Exchange Visitors: Current Issues," presented at the

NAFSA's Employment-Based Subcommittee has come up with a short list of key takeaways for practitioners in higher ed. from the DOL Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) Stakeholder meeting on PERM, H-1B and Prevailing Wage issues, held on 9/12/2017 in Washington, DC.

Reviewing and being able to articulate and document how you manage your exchange visitor program relative to regulatory requirements is always a good idea, and doing so on a regular basis can also help you prepare for a site visit if your program is randomly selected, and improve the integrity of