Read a summary of top issues reported to NAFSA IssueNet from March 2019 to June 2019. Issues reported include H-1B adjudication delays; H-1B RFEs and denials; EAD card issues; administrative processing causing visa delays; and SEVP Portal issues.

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On July 1, 2019, the DOL Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) uploaded the newest prevailing wage data from the Occupational Employment Survey (OES) as generated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the year from July 2019 - June 2020. The effective date is July 1, 2019. OES wage data in the Foreign Labor Certification Data Center Online Wage Library and prevailing wage determinations issued from the National Prevailing Wage Center will reflect the new data.

The Department of State (DOS) Office of Private Sector Exchange recently conducted a survey of exchange visitors in the College and University Student category as part of the College and University Student category review. Join DOS representatives for a discussion of the results in a NAFSA Government Connection online event on August 1, from 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm (eastern). Participation is free, but you must pre-register.

In a July 1, 2019 decision, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia found that DHS's 2016 STEM OPT rulemaking also had the legal effect of reopening the legacy INS 12-month post-completion OPT regulation that had been finalized in 1992. This means that the Court no longer considers a challenge to DHS's statutory authority to implement standard post-completion OPT to be outside the statute of limitations, and that the WashTech plaintiffs can challenge DHS's underlying statutory authority to establish not only STEM OPT but standard post-completion OPT as well. In its decision, the Court did not determine that DHS does not have such authority, but rather that it will consider the parties' arguments for and against that authority. NAFSA is engaged on the issue with other higher education and industry groups.

Topics discussed included the new FLAG system, PWD processing times, ACWIA occupational codes in O*NET, documentation to support an employer-provided wage survey, supervised recruitment in special handling cases, and PERM sponsorship notification email delays.

New SEVP Policy Guidance is directed to the practice of releasing I-20s to "recruiters," but its language reaches more broadly than that.

On May 31, 2019, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) agreed to review the backlog of immigration cases at USCIS, following a request from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) and House Democrats.

Beginning June 10, 2019, OFLC will accept online submissions of the Application for Prevailing Wage Determination (Form ETA-9141) only through its new FLAG System (Foreign Labor Application Gateway).

The Department of State (DOS) has added a "social media" question to Form DS-160, the standard online application used by individuals to apply for a nonimmigrant visa. The item requires applicants to use a drop-down list to indicate the social media platforms that they have used during the five years preceding their visa application, and to provide any identifiers or handles they used on those platforms. DOS also added a similar item to the Form DS-260 immigrant visa application.