Bill Provides Hurricane Katrina Relief

January 28, 2006

The Immigration Relief for Hurricane Katrina Victims Act of 2005 (H.R. 3827) includes a provision extending the maintenance of proper F, M, or J status from August 29, 2005 until February 1, 2006 for international students or exchange visitors affected by Hurricane Katrina. The bill passed the House of Representatives on September 21, 2005, and was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee on January 27, 2006. This bill will aid students and exchange visitors that were not able to immediately restart their studies or programs after the hurricanes, but who have since resumed their activities. The full text of the House bill is available online at http://thomas.loc.gov.

To urge your Senator to support the bill, a sample letter to personalize is available on the Take Action section of NAFSA’s Web site.