Adviser's Manual 360

The consequences of Federal budget shutdowns vary depending on whether specific operations are fee-funded or rely on appropriations. While some essential services, such as USCIS adjudications, State Department consular operations, and ICE functions typically continue, other services, like the Department of Labor’s labor certifications or USCIS programs dependent on appropriations, may halt until funding is restored. The FY 2026 cycle brings added uncertainty, as agencies have been directed to prepare potential Reduction in Force (RIF) plans alongside their contingency strategies.

On September 26, 2025 DOS announced that The Gambia has been added to the list of countries covered by the B-1/B-2 visa bond pilot program, with an October 11, 2025 effective date. Recall that Malawi and Zambia were previously announced effective August 20, 2025.

Read NAFSA's comment letter on the DHS proposal to eliminate duration of status and impose constraints on academic mobility.

Senator Charles "Chuck" Grassley (R-Iowa) has been historically vocal on his opposition to F-1 Optional Practical Training (OPT). Most recently, on September 23, 2025 Senator Grassley sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem, asking DHS for a "commitment to ending work authorizations for student visa holders," or, if not, "a detailed explanation of what legal authority DHS is relying on to issue these authorizations, and whether the Department has reevaluated that authority in light of the Supreme Court’s recent rulings on the major questions doctrine and administrative deference." Read NAFSA's page with links to Grassley's 2025, 2020, 2014, and 2012 letters on the topic.

On September 19, 2025, the Department of Labor announced Project Firewall, a new H-1B enforcement initiative. For the first time, the Secretary of Labor will directly certify certain investigations, signaling heightened oversight of employer compliance. The effort will use existing enforcement tools, including back-wage recovery, civil penalties, and possible debarment, and involve coordination with DOJ, EEOC, and USCIS. Universities and research institutions sponsoring H-1B faculty or staff should take note and review compliance practices.

On September 24, 2025 the Department of Homeland Security-US Citizenship and Immigration Services (DHS/USCIS) will publish a proposed rule titled Weighted Selection Process for Registrants and Petitioners Seeking to File Cap-Subject H-1B Petitions. The package proposes replacing the current random selection process for H-1B cap-subject registrations with "a weighted selection process that would generally favor the allocation of H-1B visas to higher skilled and higher paid aliens, while maintaining the opportunity for employers to secure H-1B workers at all wage levels." A public inspection version of the proposed rule was made available on September 23, 2025. There will be a 30-day comment period begining on September 24, 2025.

A Presidential Proclamation signed on September 19, 2025 sets out to restrict the entry of H-1B specialty occupation workers unless employers pay a $100,000 fee per petition, with limited national-interest exemptions. Claiming widespread abuse of the H-1B program by IT outsourcing firms and other employers, the order argues that the program has displaced American workers, suppressed wages, harmed new U.S. graduates, and posed national security risks. It directs federal agencies to enforce the new payment requirement, prevent misuse of other visa categories, and begin rulemaking to raise prevailing wages and prioritize the admission of high-skilled, high-paid foreign workers.

On September 19, 2025, President Trump signed an Executive Order titled The Trump Gold Card which seeks to establish a "Gold Card" program allowing foreign nationals who make unrestricted gifts of $1 million (individuals) or $2 million (corporations) to the Commerce Department to qualify for expedited immigrant visas. The executive order implies that Gold Card recipients would take immigrant visa numbers either from the already-limited employment-based first preference (EB-1) or second preference (EB-2) pools.

The Department of State has updated its Global Visa Wait Times page, with a “last updated” date of 17-SEPTEMBER-2025.

The Department of State revised its nonimmigrant visa interview waiver policy to add H-2A visas to the list of categories that may be eligible for a waiver of the nonimmigrant visa interview if no more than 12 months have passed between the H-2A visa's expiration and an application for a new visa in the same category.