Adviser's Manual 360

DHS published its final public charge rule in the Federal Register on August 14, 2019. The final rule will become effective on October 15, 2019.

The court case Washington Alliance of Technology Workers v. Department of Homeland Security seeks to discontinue the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program, particularly post completion OPT and STEM OPT. A decision in the case against OPT could also put other forms of F-1 employment authorization at risk. Join us on Tuesday, September 3, 2019 from 3:00-4:00 eastern, for a discussion of the case, an explanation of how the higher education community and NAFSA are working to defend OPT, and how you and your institution can join the effort. The event is free of charge, but you must register to join. If you can't make it, it will be recorded and made available to NAFSA members.

On August 5, 2019, the Department of State (DOS) issued Guidance Directive 2019-03 to "remind sponsors of, and clarify, certain regulatory requirements in order to assist sponsors with the administration of exchange programs in the College and University Student category." The guidance stems from DOS's review of the J-1 exchange visitor College and University Student category.

Under a new policy effective July 23, 2019, DHS began applying its expedited removal deportation authority to the full extent allowed by statute, i.e., now individuals who entered without inspection and are encountered by DHS anywhere inside the United States can be subject to expedited removal if they cannot show continuous presence in the United States for at least two years. Prior policy in place since 2004 had limited expedited removal in the interior only to undocumented individuals who were within 100 miles of a U.S. land border and in the United States for less than 14 days.

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.