Adviser's Manual 360

On November 15, 2022, Washtech filed a petition requesting a review en banc (i.e., by all the court’s judges) of the court’s October 4, 2022 panel decision that upheld DHS’ authority for OPT.

"The Department of State’s Office of the Assistant Legal Adviser for Consular Affairs (L/CA), in coordination with the Visa Office in the Bureau of Consular Affairs, appreciates the opportunity to discuss issues of concern to the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA). We believe these discussions, and publication of Department responses to issues raised by AILA on Travel.State.Gov, are valuable opportunities to provide insight and clarity concerning the Department’s current immigration policies and procedures. Following are Department responses to issues raised by AILA in anticipation of the meeting scheduled for November 3, 2022."

The Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) reminded schools and exchange program sponsors "that the annual verification period for Principal Designated School Officials (PDSO), Designated School Officials (DSO) and Responsible Officers (RO) and Alternate Responsible Officers (ARO) begins Dec. 2, 2022. All SEVP- certified schools and U.S. Department of State-designated sponsors must complete the PDSO/DSO and RO/ARO Annual Verification by March 2, 2023." To comply with this annual verification, which is required by the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA), PDSOs and ROs must annually verify that they and every DSO and ARO who has access to SEVIS: 1) Is still regularly employed by the organization and continues to be the designated PDSO, DSO, RO, or ARO; and 2) Requires continued access to SEVIS.

The Department of State's BridgeUSA SEVIS Team asked J-1 Exchange Visitor Program sponsors for suggestions for improvement to "any part of SEVIS." Responses are due by Friday, November 4, 2022.

A November 1, 2022 USCIS news alert titled "ACICS Loss of Recognition May Affect Certain Students Applying for English Language Study and 24-month STEM OPT Extension Programs, H-1B, and I-140 Applicants," describes the possible impact on USCIS benefits of the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools' (ACICS) loss of Department of Education recognition.

SEVP web pages note that on February 24, 2022, the ICE Counterterrorism and Criminal Exploitation Unit (CTCEU) was relaunched as the Counter Threat Lead Development Unit (CTLD).

USCIS officials responded to questions gathered by NAFSA’s International Student and Scholar Committee (ISS RP) in a presentation recorded as a supplement to the agency-focused 2022 regional conference sessions. Access the presentation slides and the recorded presentation on the NAFSA web site.

An October, 2022 USCIS alert on the Form I-129 launch page states: "As a reminder, as of August 11, 2022, USCIS no longer requires petitioners to submit a duplicate copy of Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, or a duplicate copy of any of the supporting documentation, unless USCIS specifically asks you to do so. Due to enhanced electronic scanning capabilities and data-sharing with the U.S. Department of State, duplicate copies are no longer needed to avoid delays in consular processing."

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) extended until January 24, 2023 the COVID-19 flexibilities it established for responses to Requests for Evidence (RFEs) and other similar response-based notices and requests, and filing date requirements for filing Form I-290B, Notice of Appeal or Motion.

SEVP recently updated its Form I-17 evidence checklists, which schools should begin using now. The updated checklists are downloadable on the Study in the States web page, as individual PDF files for each Form I-17 section, with separate sets of files for accredited and unaccredited schools. For convenience, NAFSA has also compiled the PDFs into two single files with bookmarks.