Adviser's Manual 360

On June 4, 2025 President Trump issued a proclamation "to restrict the entry of foreign nationals who seek to enter the United States solely or principally to participate in a course of study at Harvard University or in an exchange visitor program hosted by Harvard University." A White House Fact Sheet says that this "suspends the entry into the United States of any new Harvard student as a nonimmigrant under F, M, or J visas." Implementation of the proclamation is currently blocked by a temporary restraining order issued on June 5, 2025.

Presidential Proclamation of June 4, 2025: Restricting The Entry of Foreign Nationals to Protect the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats establishes a "full" travel ban on 12 countries and a "partial" travel ban on 7 countries, effective 12:01 am eastern daylight time on June 9, 2025.

In a brief press statement Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the "U.S. State Department will work with the Department of Homeland Security to aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields. We will also revise visa criteria to enhance scrutiny of all future visa applications from the People’s Republic of China and Hong Kong." No other details were included in the statement.

Keep up to date on news relating to the Department of State's pause on adding new F, M, J Visa appointment capacity pending guidance on expansion of social media screening.

According to the SEVIS Release 6.82.2 Planning Guide (May 21, 2025), SEVIS Release 6.82.2, scheduled for implementation on May 30, 2025, will revise the "Disciplinary Action" page in F-1/M-1 SEVIS RTI in ways that may impact how DSOs report disciplinary action.

A federal district court granted Harvard University's motion for a temporary restraining order (TRO) that currently prevents the U.S. government from implementing or giving any force or effect to a DHS revocation of the university's SEVP certification. See NAFSA's page for details and links.

On April 29, 2025 DOS added a new explanatory section to the Foreign Affairs Manual at 9 FAM 402.5-5(C)(1), titled "Intent to Solely Pursue a Full Course of Study." However, the entire new section is unavailable to the public.

NAFSA members reported that certain F-1 students on Optional Practical Training (OPT) received a letter from SEVP titled “Student and Exchange Visitor Program: Notice of Failure to Report Optional Practical Training Employer and Exceeding Permissible Period of Unemployment," advising the students that they’ve “been participating in Optional Practical Training (OPT) for more than 90 days but have not reported any employer information,” and that “If your SEVIS record is not updated within 15 days of the date of this notice, SEVP will set your SEVIS record to “terminated” to reflect the lack of employer information and the potential that you may have violated your status either by failing to timely report OPT employment or by exceeding the permissible period of unemployment while on OPT.” Read more on NAFSA's page.

On May 15, 2025, the Department of State (DOS) sent an alert to J-1 Exchange Visitor Program (EVP) Sponsors to inform them that DOS has revised its Incident Reporting Rubric for academic program sponsors by adding the following new incident reporting requirements: Proscribed Antisemitic Actions, Serious Violations of University Conduct Rules, and Terrorist Activity, Endorsing or Espousing Terrorism.

On May 15, 2025 NAFSA joined a statement led by the American Council on Education and endorsed by 52 other organizations affirming the longstanding partnership between the federal government and higher education and urging the current administration reforge this partnership to advance shared national interests.