PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Gavels & Gowns - Enforcement on Campus: The Impact of New Immigration Priorities on Academia
Bar Exam Toolbox Podcast Episode 273: Quick Tips -- Mastering the Bar Exam as an ESL or Foreign-Trained Student
Harvard/MIT Student Visa Case
Nota Bene Episode 91: China Q3 Check In - Trade Wars, GDP Growth, Pandemic Comparatives, and Hong Kong with Michael Zhang
Update from Washington: Employer's Preview of Immigration Restrictions from the Administration
Nota Bene Episode 77: Labor, Employment, and Immigration in a Pandemic World with Kelly Hensley, Denise Giraudo, and Greg Berk
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced a proposed rule that will limit the periods of admission for F-1 student, J-1 exchange visitor and I-1 foreign media visa holders and increase DHS oversight....more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently released a copy of a proposed regulation, which would replace and limit the agency’s current policy regarding F1 (foreign students), J1(exchange visitors), and I...more
USCIS provided updated guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual with regard to the F-1 and M visa classifications utilized by international students for vocational, graduate and post-graduate study at U.S. academic institutions....more
The F-1 nonimmigrant visa status allows noncitizens to study in the United States at U.S. colleges and universities. F-1 students may be eligible for off-campus employment under the following programs: Curricular Practical...more
On July 23, 2024, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) added the category of Environmental/Natural Resource Economics (03.0204) as a qualifying field of study to the DHS STEM Designated Degree Program List. DHS did...more
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently updated guidance in its policy manual regarding international students within F and M student classifications. This new guidance consolidates and provides greater...more
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will begin accepting new H-1B lottery registrations, known as the H-1B Cap Lottery, for Fiscal Year 2025 starting in March of 2024 (exact dates to be announced)....more
It is once again time for employers to evaluate their H-1B needs as the annual filing season approaches. Despite continued strong demand for skilled workers, U.S. law places a yearly limit or “cap” on most new H-1B visas at...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is issuing policy guidance regarding F and M students, including USCIS’s role in adjudicating applications for employment authorization, change of status, extension of stay,...more
Significant modifications to the H-1B visa program are expected to be implemented by the Department of Homeland Security. The agency issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPR) that would “modernize the H-1B specialty...more
USCIS has issued new policy guidance explaining how it determines whether a beneficiary has met the two-year home residence requirement applicable to nonimmigrant exchange visitors in J status....more
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will now offer premium processing for individuals seeking to change their status to an F-1 or M-1 vocational student, or J-1 Exchange visitor, as well as their dependents....more
USCIS has expanded premium processing for F-1 students to pending Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) applications based on Optional Practice Training (OPT) and STEM OPT. On April 3, 2023, the same will be extended to...more
Over the past week, the State Department and USCIS have issued several significant updates, including the return of U.S. stateside visa processing and the expansion of premium processing for F-1 students....more
USCIS has expanded premium processing for certain F-1 students seeking Optional Practical Training (OPT) and STEM OPT extensions. Specifically, for a fee of $1,500, eligible applicants can request that USCIS adjudicate their...more
On March 6, 2023, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced “the expansion of premium processing for certain F-1 students seeking Optional Practical Training (OPT) and F-1 students seeking science,...more
Employers who recently hired F-1 foreign students and wish to continue to employ them beyond the one or three years of Optional Practical Training employment authorization should contact immigration counsel and start making a...more
A basketball player from the Dominican Republic could be the first prospective National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) athlete to secure an O-1 temporary work visa for those with “extraordinary ability” in athletics...more
On April 30, 2022, Freeman Law posted my blog that provided a brief overview of international students in the U.S. pursuant to an F-1 visa and the limited circumstances under which those visa-holders may work in the U.S. See...more
An accounting firm hires a new graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting degree from a local university for its audit team. This new graduate is a foreign student utilizing the one-year Optional Practical Training...more
On January 21, 2022, the White House released a fact sheet entitled “Biden-Harris Administration Actions to Attract STEM Talent and Strengthen our Economy and Competitiveness,” announcing several immigration-related policy...more
Many F-1 OPT foreign nationals have been approved for H-1B status effective October 1st in this year’s H-1B lottery Employers and F-1 workers should be careful during the transition from F-1 to H-1B status to ensure they...more
On February 26, 2021, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it was offering additional flexibility for international students affected by the delayed issuance of receipt notices for Form I-765,...more
Last week, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced changes that will be good news for foreign students seeking Optional Practical Training in areas related to their major areas of study. First, the 14...more
Today, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced a final rule that would drastically change the lottery system this year. Under the new rule, USCIS would give priority to applications offering the...more