Since the 24-month STEM OPT rule became effective on May 10, 2016, the Department of Homeland Security has had authority to conduct site visits of STEM OPT employers. In late summer, 2019, a number of law firms and news outlets reported that although DHS has had this authority since 2016, it has

Updates A November 19, 2025 USCIS proposed rule published at 87 FR 55472 (September 9, 2022) seeks to rescind the final public charge rule that went into effect on December 23, 2022. Comments on the proposal are due by December 19, 2025. "DHS proposes the following changes: Amend 8 CFR 103.6(c)

On August 5, 2019, the Department of State (DOS) issued Guidance Directive 2019-03 - College and University Student Category: Screening and Monitoring. Download Guidance Directive 2019-03 The guidance stems from DOS's review of the J-1 exchange visitor College and University Student category, and to

22 CFR 62.13(d) requires an exchange visitor program to notify the Department of State of: any investigations of an exchange visitor's site of activity, or any serious problem or controversy that may bring the Department of State or the sponsor's exchange visitor program into "notoriety or disrepute

Summary of top issues reported to NAFSA IssueNet from March 2019 to June 2019 Long delays for H-1B applications which are impacting other things such as renewing driver's licenses. USCIS continues to apply a stricter standard of the Specialty Occupation definition for H-1Bs than in the past, leading

Recent Updates Executive Order 14282 of April 23, 2025: Transparency Regarding Foreign Influence at American Universities. EO on whitehouse.gov | EO 14282 published at 90 FR 17541 (April 28, 2025). This Executive Order reinstates and tightens enforcement of higher education institutions' obligation

September 2013 update newsletter from the Department of Homeland Security's Student and Exchange Visitor Program.

DOL's PERM User Guide describes the fundamentals of the web-based system, including registering, logging in, preparing a PERM application, and managing your user account."

Update: SEVP has not finalized policy guidance on this topic. See SEVP's Trends and Improvements page where it makes note of the status of this draft policy guidance. In 2016, the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) posted a draft policy guidance document for comment titled: SEVP Policy