Fees, Forms, Filing Procedures

On January 31, 2019, DHS published a final rule governing petitions filed on behalf of H-1B beneficiaries who may be counted toward the 65,000 H-1B cap (regular cap) or the 20,000 beneficiaries with advanced degrees from U.S. institutions of higher education who are eligible for an exemption from

Beginning with SEVIS Release 6.49 (scheduled release date November 17, 2019), DSOs will be able 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. View SEVP's: SEVIS Release 6.49

According to SEVP's Broadcast Message 1910-01 (October 2, 2019), after the SEVP Portal upgrades to Releases 1.10 and 1.11 (as soon as October, 2019): "students will only have access to the SEVP Portal for up to six months after their OPT ends... In preparation for account closure, SEVP strongly

On September 27, 2019, the Student and Exchange Visitor Program issued policy guidance on the obligations of schools and students to document that there is a direct relationship between the student's major field of study and the work the student does on pre-completion OPT, standard post-completion

On September 4, 2019, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published two notices asking for public comment on DHS's plan to modify a number of CBP (U.S. Customs and Border Protection) and USCIS (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services) forms to ask for additional identifying information

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)

Top Takeaways from the Department of Labor Stakeholder Meeting on May 16, 2019 A new system for filing with DOL is here: the Foreign Labor Application Gateway ( FLAG). Starting Monday, June 10, applications for Prevailing Wage Determinations will only be accepted through FLAG Due to the transition

SEVP Policy Guidance: Form I-20 Issuance and School Use of Recruiters (June 4, 2019) is directed to the practice of releasing I-20s to "recruiters," but its language reaches more broadly than that, stating that "DSOs are only authorized to release the Form I-20 directly to nonimmigrant students

Effective July 20, 2021, USCIS has eliminated its prior policy that had required applicants applying to change their status to F-1 student to file "bridge" applications while their change of status (COS) to F-1 applications were pending.

On May 31, 2019, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) agreed to open an investigation into the backlog of immigration cases at USCIS, following a request from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and House Democrats. Read the CHC request Read GAO's letter accepting the request The Congressional