The DHS/ICE (Department of Homeland Security-US Immigration and Customs Enforcement) proposed rule to end "duration of status" (D/S) for F, J, and I nonimmigrants was published in the Thursday, August 28, 2025 Federal Register. Comments are due by September 29, 2025. Read the proposal now.

On August 19, 2025, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it has expanded the types of benefit requests that receive social media vetting, adding reviews for "anti-American" and "antisemitic" activity to that vetting, stating that such activity will be "an overwhelmingly negative factor in any applicable case involving USCIS discretionary analysis."

On August 8, 2025 OMB completed its review of the USCIS proposed rule "Weighted Selection Process for Registrants and Petitioners Seeking To File Cap-Subject H-1B Petitions." The forthcoming proposed rule will likely be similar to a final rule published at the very end of the first Trump administration that would have replaced the current random selection process for H-1B cap-subject registrations with a system that gives preference to higher wage earners. Now that OMB has completed its review, the package will be sent back to USCIS who will then follow procedures to publish the proposed rule in the Federal Register, with a period for public comment. Since this is at the proposed rule stage, a rule would not become final until after the agency reviews public comments on the proposed rule, submits a final rule for OMB review, and then publishes a final rule in the Federal Register with a future effective date.

In an August 7, 2025 News Alert the Department of State announced that: "Effective, August 7, 2025, U.S. Embassy Harare has temporarily paused all routine visa services. This pause includes applications for immigrant visas as well as nonimmigrant visas for tourists, business travelers, students, exchange visitors, and most other nonimmigrant categories. Concerned visa applicants have been notified. We will update our website when appointment scheduling resumes and inform applicants whose appointments were rescheduled... At this time, no visa appointments can be scheduled at U.S. Embassy Harare.  We will update our website when appointment scheduling resumes and inform applicants directly when they can reschedule."

On August 5, 2025 the Department of State published in the Federal Register a temporary final rule that establishes a one-year pilot program to test a $5K, $10K, or $15K bond system for B‑1/B‑2 visitor visa applicants from countries with high overstay rates or other conditions. Malawi and Zambia are the first two countries to be designated under the pilot, effective August 20, 2025.

In a July 8, 2025 Carrier Liaison Program Bulletin, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) instructed airlines (international carriers) that they must submit "M" or "F" in the sex field of the pre-departure information they transmit to to CBP through the Advanced Passenger Information System (APIS), even if the traveler's passport contains a sex indicator other than M or F or does not otherwise indicate the sex of the traveler.

On July 22, 2025 USCIS will publish a Federal Register notice to implement collection of certain (but not all) of the HR-1 budget law's new immigration fees, effective as of the July 22 publication in the Federal Register. The notice clarifies, though, that the new Visa Integrity and Form I-94 fees will not be collected under the July 22, 2025 notice but rather in separate future Federal Register notices.

On July 18, 2025 USCIS announced that it had "received enough petitions to reach the congressionally mandated 65,000 H-1B visa regular cap and the 20,000 H-1B visa U.S. advanced degree exemption, known as the master’s cap, for fiscal year 2026." See NAFSA's H-1B cap resource page.

In early July, 2025 the Department of State revised the visa reciprocity schedules of numerous countries to reduce the validity of visas it issues going forward to 3 months and only a single entry. NAFSA checked the DOS visa reciprocity tables in the B, F, H, J, M, and O visa categories and lists these countries on a new NAFSA page.

H.R.1, the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" signed into law on July 4, 2025, imposes a new "visa integrity fee" to be paid upon the issuance of any nonimmigrant visa. For fiscal year 2025, the fee will be set at the greater of $250 or an amount established by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) through regulation, with automatic annual adjustments for inflation beginning in fiscal year 2026. The fee may not be waived or reduced, and all revenues - except those reimbursed under specific conditions - are to be deposited into the U.S. Treasury’s general fund. A reimbursement can be authorized for nonimmigrants who comply fully with the terms of their visa, including avoiding unauthorized employment, and who either depart the United States promptly at the end of their authorized stay or obtain a lawful extension or adjustment of status.