Adviser's Manual 360 News Feed

Average visa interview wait time information is once again available on the Department of State's Global Visa Wait Times page on travel.state.gov. The page was finally updated with new data on April 25, 2025 after having been dormant since January 7, 2025.

Three new presidential executive orders relevant to higher education were signed on April 23, 2025: 1)Transparency Regarding Foreign Influence at American Universities. 2) Executive Order of April 23, 2025: Reforming Accreditation to Strengthen Higher Education; 3) White House Initiative to Promote Excellence and Innovation at Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Link to the orders on NAFSA's Current U.S. Administration page.

Numerous lawsuits against recent SEVIS record terminations are being filed across the United States. See a sample of cases already filed for an idea of the scope and issues being litigated.

A reminder that new USCIS guidance effective April 11, 2025 requires young nonimmigrants who turn 14 while in the U.S. to "re-register" with USCIS within 30 days of their birthday, even if previously registered and issued a Form I-94 when they entered the country. This may affect, for example, F-2, J-2, H-4 dependents and young F-1/J-1 students who entered before age 14. Most nonimmigrants who entered the U.S. at age 14+ are already automatically registered (as evidenced by their Form I-94) and do not need to re-register. See NAFSA's page for more details and links.

Remember to keep track of F-1 Special Student Relief (SSR) expiration dates. Note that Hong Kong SSR already expired in February, and Sudan and Ukraine SSR will expire soon, on April 19, 2025.

A reminder that REAL ID requirements scheduled to go into effect on May 7 continue to present obstacles to many nonimmigrants seeking a REAL ID-compliant driver's license or ID.

NAFSA has received numerous reports of SEVIS record terminations done by the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP). See NAFSA's page for some background and frameworks for understanding these actions.

USCIS announces receipt of sufficient electronic registrations and notifies prospective cap-subject petitioners of H-1B filing period - On March 31, 2025 USCIS announced that the agency had "received enough electronic registrations for unique beneficiaries during the initial registration period to reach the fiscal year (FY) 2026 H-1B numerical allocations (H-1B cap), including the advanced degree exemption (master’s cap). We have randomly selected enough beneficiaries with properly submitted registrations projected as needed to reach the H-1B cap and have notified all prospective petitioners with selected beneficiaries that they are eligible to file an H-1B cap-subject petition for such beneficiaries." Only petitioners with registrations for selected beneficiaries may file H-1B cap-subject petitions for FY 2026, within the filing period indicated on the relevant selection notice, starting April 1, 2025.

A reminder that the filing window for cap-subject H-1B petitions could begin as early as April 1, and that a rule effective January 17 changed the F-1 cap-gap benefits dates for the better. The new rule extends the cap-gap extension of F-1 duration of status and OPT employment authorization to April 1 of the relevant fiscal year, rather than October 1, a six-month increase (the fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30), and allows allows the H-1B petition to request an H-1B employment start date any time in the fiscal year for which such H–1B status is being requested, rather than specifying only an October 1 start date.

March 20, 2025. An INA 212(f) "travel ban" is expected soon, according to media and other sources. Media reports have identified some countries that may be subject to a ban during this first round, but there have been no official or public government communications on what countries might be included or the scope of any bans on particular countries.