Adviser's Manual 360

Effective May 4, 2022, a USCIS temporary final rule expands from 180 to 540 days the automatic extension of work authorization for certain applicants whose employment authorization document (EAD) extension applications remain pending after their prior EAD expires. F-1 student EAD applications, which were not included in the 2017 rule, continue to be ineligible for this benefit.

In an April 22, 2022 update to its "Current Program" Exchange Visitor Program COVID-19 FAQs, BridgeUSA extended its general COVID-19 accommodations through June 30, 2023, still conditioned on the requirement that "new exchange visitors can participate in programs only if their host organizations (e.g., schools or businesses) have reinstated partial to full in-person activities." A new FAQ also continues to allow telework in the College/University Student (Academic Training and Student Intern), Research Scholar, Short Term Scholar, Intern, and Trainee categories, but institutes a limit "of one to two telework days per week."

On April 19, 2022, DHS published separate Federal Register notices establishing Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and Special Student Relief (SSR) for qualified citizens of Ukraine who are already in the United States.

In an April 18, 2022 revision to its COVID-19 guidance, SEVP stated that it "will continue to abide by guidance originally issued in March 2020 for the 2022-23 academic year and did not make any changes to the March 2020 guidance. Stakeholders should continue to refer to existing resources at ICE.gov/Coronavirus for information about the original March 2020 guidance." It's COVID-19 FAQs have been updated to reflect extension of its guidance to the 2022-2023 academic year.

On Tuesday, April 19, 2022 at 1 pm Eastern Time, the Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) will present "a webinar that provides technical assistance and helpful tips for preparing Application for Prevailing Wage Determination (Form ETA-9141) for the permanent and labor condition application programs, for both Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) and Non-OEWS (e.g., survey) prevailing wage requests. This webinar will provide employers, attorneys, and agents) helpful hints and cover some of the most pressing post-filing issues employers encounter to complete and submit the Form ETA-9141."

A Social Security Administration (SSA) page shows the reopening statuses of in-person services at local SSA offices.

In an April 4, 2022 letter to the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), NAFSA CEO and Executive Director, Dr. Esther Brimmer, asked the agency to soon publish COVID-19 guidance for the coming 2022-2023 academic year. Noting the continued national emergency declaration, the letter states: "Schools and other institutions are in a state of transition towards greater normalcy as they balance multiple factors to adjust their curricula, polices, and procedures in this phase of the pandemic. An extension of SEVP’s COVID-19 accommodations policies for the upcoming academic year would allow the full spectrum of schools to focus on tailoring policies that make sense in the local context."

US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will publish an interim final rule that will expand the ESTA pre-registration requirement to Visa Waiver Program (VWP) visitors planning to enter the United States through land ports of entry. Currently, ESTA registration is needed only for VWP entry through air and sea ports of entry.

A U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) final rule adds authorization for premium processing for certain changes of status and extensions of stay (filed on Form I-539) and certain applications for employment authorization (filed on Form I-765). The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) anticipates that “beginning in FY 2022” it will begin accepting I-765 premium processing applications for “students applying for Optional Practical Training (OPT) and exchange visitors,” and I-539 applications for changes of status to “F-1, F-2, J-1, J-2, M-1, M-2.” However, premium processing for these new categories will not be available until USCIS specifically announces the availability. Implementation for other new eligibility categories is expected in FY 2025.

On March 29, 2022, USCIS announced that the fiscal year (FY) 2023 H-1B cap was reached and that it has notified all prospective petitioners with selected registrations that they are eligible to file an H-1B cap-subject petition for the beneficiary named in the applicable selected registration, during the 90-day filing period beginning April 1, 2022.