International Students and Schools

In a September 16, 2019 letter to academic institutions, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) said, "During the next few months, OSTP will be holding meetings at academic institutions across the Nation to converse with researchers and students on matters of research

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

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

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.

Section 641 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA) is the core statutory authority for the electronic collection of information in SEVIS. It has been amended several times since it became law in 1996. This version of IIRIRA Section 641 incorporates all

A final rule effective May 29, 2015 allows schools flexibility in determining number of DSOs and allows part-time postsecondary and vocational F-2 and M-2 study.

This page monitors the development of SEVP's guidance on the topic of Bridge and Pathways Programs and Conditional Admission.

Final guidance for SEVP adjudicators on reporting instructional site locations on Form I-17. The guidance defines what constitutes an instructional site and which instructional sites school officials should report to SEVP.

On June 10, 2013, NAFSA submitted comments to the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) on SEVP’s Draft Policy Guidance for Adjudicators 1203-01: Bridge Programs and Conditional Admission.