Adviser's Manual 360

The National Association of College and University Attorneys (NACUA) will offer a 2-hour webinar called "Immigration Update: Navigating Current and Emerging Developments in Higher Education" on September 23. Program, registration and registration fee information is available on the NACUA site. The webinar will be of interest to college and university counsel who advise on immigration and international issues, as well as campus administrators with responsibilities related to these areas.

The Spring 2025 Regulatory Agenda published on September 4, 2025 includes significant initiatives affecting international students, exchange visitors, and employment-based immigration. For F-1 students, DHS says that it is again working on practical training rulemaking with a goal of soon publishing a proposed rule, and has already proposed eliminating duration of status. For J-1 exchange visitors, DHS has likewise proposed eliminating duration of status and plans to update regulations on extension, reinstatement, and correction of records to reflect SEVIS functionality. Employment-based initiatives on the agenda include reforming the H-1B classification, introducing a weighted selection system to favor higher wages in the H-1B cap lottery, and pursuing broader reforms in the employment-based first, second, and third preference categories.

DHS is proposing revisions to Forms I-17 and I-20 that would require schools to report more detailed information on ownership, programs of study, costs, and designated school officials, and to collect new data on students’ guardians, graduation dates, funding sources, instructional modes, and employment or training activities. DHS will accept comments on the planned changes until November 3, 2025.

In an August 29, 2025 news release USICS announced that after October 28, 2025 it will accept only credit/debit card or ACH payments in payment of USCIS fees and will no longer accept paper checks or money orders.

The DHS/ICE (Department of Homeland Security-US Immigration and Customs Enforcement) proposed rule to end "duration of status" (D/S) for F, J, and I nonimmigrants was published in the Thursday, August 28, 2025 Federal Register. Comments are due by September 29, 2025. Read the proposal now.

On August 19, 2025, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it has expanded the types of benefit requests that receive social media vetting, adding reviews for "anti-American" and "antisemitic" activity to that vetting, stating that such activity will be "an overwhelmingly negative factor in any applicable case involving USCIS discretionary analysis."

On August 8, 2025 OMB completed its review of the USCIS proposed rule "Weighted Selection Process for Registrants and Petitioners Seeking To File Cap-Subject H-1B Petitions." The forthcoming proposed rule will likely be similar to a final rule published at the very end of the first Trump administration that would have replaced the current random selection process for H-1B cap-subject registrations with a system that gives preference to higher wage earners. Now that OMB has completed its review, the package will be sent back to USCIS who will then follow procedures to publish the proposed rule in the Federal Register, with a period for public comment. Since this is at the proposed rule stage, a rule would not become final until after the agency reviews public comments on the proposed rule, submits a final rule for OMB review, and then publishes a final rule in the Federal Register with a future effective date.

In an August 7, 2025 News Alert the Department of State announced that: "Effective, August 7, 2025, U.S. Embassy Harare has temporarily paused all routine visa services. This pause includes applications for immigrant visas as well as nonimmigrant visas for tourists, business travelers, students, exchange visitors, and most other nonimmigrant categories. Concerned visa applicants have been notified. We will update our website when appointment scheduling resumes and inform applicants whose appointments were rescheduled... At this time, no visa appointments can be scheduled at U.S. Embassy Harare.  We will update our website when appointment scheduling resumes and inform applicants directly when they can reschedule."

On August 5, 2025 the Department of State published in the Federal Register a temporary final rule that establishes a one-year pilot program to test a $5K, $10K, or $15K bond system for B‑1/B‑2 visitor visa applicants from countries with high overstay rates or other conditions. Malawi and Zambia are the first two countries to be designated under the pilot, effective August 20, 2025.

In a July 8, 2025 Carrier Liaison Program Bulletin, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) instructed airlines (international carriers) that they must submit "M" or "F" in the sex field of the pre-departure information they transmit to to CBP through the Advanced Passenger Information System (APIS), even if the traveler's passport contains a sex indicator other than M or F or does not otherwise indicate the sex of the traveler.