With SEVIS Release 6.49 (November 17, 2019), DSOs have the ability to upload Form I-983 training plans in SEVIS when recommending initial STEM OPT, adding a STEM employer, and at the 12 and 24 month self-evaluation reporting periods. The functionality is not available in SEVIS batch. In a November 8, 2019 pre-release webinar, SEVP said that uploading the Form I-983 to SEVIS is "optional, but encouraged," and that "Use is date-forward; does not apply retroactively."

Poland has been designated into the Visa Waiver Program (VWP), effective November 11, 2019. Eligible citizens of Poland may register in ESTA and enter the U.S. in WB or WT status for 90 days under the VWP on and after the effective date.

On November 4, NAFSA joined the American Council on Education and nearly a dozen other higher education associations on a comment letter regarding DHS’s proposal to include questions on its forms asking for additional identifying and social media presence information.

The Fall 2019 NAFSA Immigration Review is available in the NAFSA shop.It provides a brief overview of changes in immigration law, policy, procedure, and practice over the past 6 months (as of September 25, 2019). Free to NAFSA members.

On October 9, 2019, the president issued Executive Order 13891, titled Promoting the Rule of Law Through Improved Agency Guidance Documents, "to ensure that Americans are subject to only those binding rules imposed through duly enacted statutes or through regulations lawfully promulgated under them."

Beginning December 2, 2019, USCIS will raise its premium processing fee to $1,440 from the current fee of $1,410, for Form I-129 and Form I-140.

Under Presidential Proclamation 9945, effective November 3, 2019, immigrant visa applicants must establish to the satisfaction of a consular officer, that they will be covered by an approved health insurance plan within 30 days of entry into the United States, unless they can establish that they have sufficient financial resources to otherwise cover reasonably foreseeable medical costs. A DOS information collection request notice describes how DOS will initially elicit the information required to make a determination under the proclamation. Comments on that DOS notice are due on October 31, 2019, the day after the notice was published.

DHS published its final public charge rule in the Federal Register on August 14, 2019.

On October 10, 2019, USCIS posted revised versions several forms to add questions relating to the public charge regulation that was scheduled to become effective October 15, 2019. USCIS planned to accept the current unrevised editions of these forms only if they were postmarked on or before October 14, 2019. However, on October 11, 2019, a U.S. District Court in New York issued a nationwide preliminary injunction blocking the enforcement of the DHS public charge rule. The order also enjoins DHS from “Implementing, considering in connection with any application, or requiring the use of any new or updated forms whose submission would be required under the Rule…”

SEVP Broadcast Message 1910-01 gives notice that SEVP Portal upgrades planned to begin in October 2019 will limit student access to their portal accounts to only six months after their OPT ends. SEVP recommends that students make a copy of their portal record now for future reference.