Adviser's Manual 360

The Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) plans a November 20, 2019 national roll out of the SEVP External Training Application (SETA), initially with four courses.

On November 14, 2019, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will propose changing filing fees and other forms processing proposals. There will be a 30-day public comment period opening on November 14, 2019. These are proposed changes only, and must be finalized by USCIS after reviewing public comments, by publishing a final rule in the Federal Register with a future effective date.

Beginning with SEVIS Release 6.49 (scheduled release date November 17, 2019), DSOs will have the ability to upload Form I-983 training plans in SEVIS when recommending initial STEM OPT, adding a STEM employer, and at the 12 and 24 month self-evaluation reporting periods. SEVP's SEVIS Release 6.49 Planning Guide seems to imply that batch schools will have to take the extra step of logging in to SEVIS RTI to upload the Form I-983 to the records of students they recommended for STEM OPT in batch. In a November 8, 2019 pre-release webinar, SEVP said that uploading the Form I-983 to SEVIS is "optional, but encouraged."

DHS announced on November 6, 2019 that Poland has been designated into the Visa Waiver Program (VWP), effective November 11, 2019. Eligible citizens of Poland will be able to register in ESTA and enter the U.S. in WB or WT status for 90 days under the VWP on and after the effective date.

On November 4, NAFSA joined the American Council on Education and nearly a dozen other higher education associations on a comment letter regarding DHS’s proposal to include questions on its forms asking for additional identifying and social media presence information.

The Fall 2019 NAFSA Immigration Review is available in the NAFSA shop.It provides a brief overview of changes in immigration law, policy, procedure, and practice over the past 6 months (as of September 25, 2019). Free to NAFSA members.

Beginning December 2, 2019, USCIS will raise its premium processing fee to $1,440 from the current fee of $1,410, for Form I-129 and Form I-140.

Under Presidential Proclamation 9945, effective November 3, 2019, immigrant visa applicants must establish to the satisfaction of a consular officer, that they will be covered by an approved health insurance plan within 30 days of entry into the United States, unless they can establish that they have sufficient financial resources to otherwise cover reasonably foreseeable medical costs. A DOS information collection request notice describes how DOS will initially elicit the information required to make a determination under the proclamation. Comments on that DOS notice are due on October 31, 2019, the day after the notice was published.

On October 10, 2019, USCIS posted revised versions several forms to add questions relating to the public charge regulation that was scheduled to become effective October 15, 2019. USCIS planned to accept the current unrevised editions of these forms only if they were postmarked on or before October 14, 2019. However, on October 11, 2019, a U.S. District Court in New York issued a nationwide preliminary injunction blocking the enforcement of the DHS public charge rule. The order also enjoins DHS from “Implementing, considering in connection with any application, or requiring the use of any new or updated forms whose submission would be required under the Rule…”

SEVP Broadcast Message 1910-01 gives notice that SEVP Portal upgrades planned to begin in October 2019 will limit student access to their portal accounts to only six months after their OPT ends. SEVP recommends that students make a copy of their portal record now for future reference.