Over the last few days, the Trump Administration has introduced changes to its student visa policies, prompting concerns within academic and international communities. On May 27, 2025, the US State Department issued a directive by Secretary of State Marco Rubio instructing embassies worldwide to pause the scheduling of new interviews for student and exchange visitor visas (F, M, and J categories). This measure is part of a broader review aimed at enhancing the screening and vetting processes for these applicants, including the implementation of expanded social media evaluations. Notably, individuals with already scheduled interviews are not affected by this pause.
Read moreForeign National Students Facing Visa Revocations
Since April 4, 2025, international students in the United States on valid F-1 student visas have reported receiving notice that their SEVIS (“Student and Exchange Visitor Information System”) records had been terminated and their F-1 visas revoked—effectively leaving them without lawful status. According to The Guardian, students from more than 50 universities shared that their visas were canceled around April 4 with many noting they had never been charged with any criminal offenses. These reports follow a series of alarming developments involving the detention of foreign national students for their participation in pro-Palestine activities and the Department of State’s confirmation that over 300 student visas had been revoked. Secretary of State Marco Rubio cited national interest and students’ criminal records as the basis for these actions.
Read moreThe Aftermath of the H-1B Fiscal Year 2025 Visa Lottery: Next Steps and Alternatives
In April this year, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced they had received sufficient electronic registrations for unique individuals for the fiscal year 2025 (“FY2025”) cap, including the advanced degree exemption (master’s cap). USCIS randomly selected properly submitted registrations and notified all employers.
Those with selected registrations were able to begin filing H-1B cap subject petitions for FY2025 as of April 1, 2024. The deadline for filing H-1B cap subject petitions online, based on a valid registration selection notice, was June 30, 2024, and paper-based H-1B cap subject petitions had to be received at a USCIS Lockbox Facility by July 1, 2024 (since June 30 was a Sunday).
Read moreUSCIS Announces Form I-765 Can Now Be Filed Online by F-1 Students Seeking Optional Practical Training
On April 12, 2021, US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that F-1 students seeking optional practical training (OPT) can now file Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, online as long as they are filing under one of these categories:
(c)(3)(A) – Pre-Completion OPT;
(c)(3)(B) – Post-Completion OPT; and
(c)(3)(C) – 24-Month Extension of OPT for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) students.
Trump Administration Allows International Students to Attend Online Only Programs in Fall 2020
The Trump administration is now allowing international students to enter the US to attend colleges and universities even if all their courses for the fall 2020 semester are online. The administration rescinded a temporary rule that would have required international students to transfer or leave the country if their college or university held classes entirely online because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The rescission of the temporary rule comes after Harvard, MIT, and other colleges and universities filed suit, and university leaders, students, and educational advocates criticized the temporary rule noting that it would have jeopardized the health of students, teachers, and university staff and led to a potential dramatic loss of revenue for many educational institutions and the towns where they are located.
Read moreCan I Freelance on My Nonimmigrant Visa? Limitations and Opportunities in the US Immigration System
It is more and more common for people to want to structure their careers free from the ties of a standard employer/employee relationship. What used to be the standard nine-to-five job with the same employer is becoming less and less suited to the new ways that people work. For many people who work in the arts especially, working on projects for multiple employers is the best way to structure their work. However, doing myriad projects for multiple clients or employers can be challenging under the current immigration system and visa structures. While the US has a clear interest in protecting US workers and ensuring foreign nationals do not come to the US without actual work lined up, the immigration system fails to properly allow for the increasing trend of people working under a freelance model.
Read moreThe Aftermath of the H-1B Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 Visa lottery: Next Steps and Alternatives
US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) have announced the lottery results for this year’s H-1B cap (Fiscal Year 2020) with USCIS reporting that it received 201,011 H-1B petitions. Additionally, the agency announced last week that they completed data entry for all FY 2020 H-1B cap-subject petitions selected (including master’s cap cases), which means they will be sending receipt notices for those cases selected and returning those cases not selected.
Read moreWhat Can I Do Without an Immigration Lawyer?
I will be the first to tell you that immigration law is complex and changing and requires vigilance and care in preparing applications, but there is no requirement that foreign nationals, their employers, or family members use a lawyer. It is also true that under the Trump administration, foreign nationals (and even immigration practitioners) have become more cautious and even hesitant about filing petitions given the increased scrutiny of their applications by immigration officials and consular officers; nevertheless, there are certain applications that should still be straightforward enough to file without legal assistance. Cases filed by individuals without legal representation are subject to the same review and adjudication process as others filed by attorneys. We’ve previously discussed why an experienced immigration attorney can be valuable and in some cases absolutely recommended, but in this post we’ll more closely examine the types of applications and petitions that foreign nationals in most situations can prepare and file on their own.
Read moreVisa Options for Study in the US
The United States is one of the most popular places for foreign nationals to come to study. In the 2015 to 2016 academic year, over one million international students came to the US! Although numbers have dropped since President Trump was elected, and there are reports of foreign nationals reconsidering higher education in the US in light of the anti-immigrant rhetoric and atmosphere, many foreign nationals will still come to the US to study at our highly respected educational institutions. As I’ve written before, it’s not uncommon for certain foreign students to move onto work visas once they have completed their studies. In this post, however, we wanted to examine how exactly foreign nationals come to the US as students, and some general issues that foreign students face, including employment while in school and visas for their dependents. It may surprise some readers that there is not just one visa option for students. In fact, there are three different routes for students: F-1, M-1, and J-1. Each visa has its own set of rules concerning how it can be used and what benefits (and potential detriments) may follow.
Read moreDHS Enhances Optional Practical Training Program in STEM Fields
Last week the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a final rule to strengthen and enhance the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program for international students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, allowing students from accredited schools the option to work in the US for up to three years after graduation. The final rule replaces the existing 2008 interim final rule, and amends the current regulations at 8 C.F.R. parts 214 and 274a, regarding OPT for F-1 nonimmigrant students who have completed a STEM degree. The rule, which received more than 50,000 comments, the most in DHS history, will officially go into effect Tuesday, May 10, 2016.
“The new rule for STEM OPT will allow international students with qualifying degrees to extend the time they participate in practical training, while at the same time strengthening oversight and adding new features to the program,” Lou Farrell, director of the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) said in the press release.
The final rule, part of Obama’s executive action proposals, increases the STEM OPT extension from the current seventeen months to twenty-four months, and also includes the following enhancements and protections:
Only students who earned a degree from a school accredited by a U.S. Department of Education-recognized accrediting agency and certified by SEVP may apply for a STEM OPT extension.
Participating students who receive an additional qualifying degree from an accredited college or university can apply for a second STEM OPT extension.
Participating students can use a previously-earned qualifying degree to apply for a STEM OPT extension. The prior degree must not have already formed the basis of a STEM OPT extension and must be from a school that is both accredited by a U.S. Department of Education-recognized accrediting agency and certified by SEVP at the time of the student’s STEM OPT application. The student’s most recent degree must also be from an accredited and SEVP-certified institution.
Employers participating in STEM OPT must incorporate a formal training program that includes concrete learning objectives with proper oversight.
Employers and students must report material changes in their training program.
To guard against adverse effects on U.S. workers, terms and conditions of a student’s training opportunity – such as duties, hours, and compensation – must be on par with U.S. workers in similar positions in the same geographic area of employment. Additionally, the student must not replace a full-time, part-time, temporary or permanent U.S. worker.
Students must work a minimum of 20 hours per week per employer to qualify.
Students are permitted a limited period of unemployment during the initial period of post-completion OPT and the STEM OPT extension.
All STEM OPT employers must participate in DHS’ E-Verify program.
As BuzzFeed points out, the new regulation is meant to attract high-demand tech and engineering talent to the US, and is beneficial for not only foreign students in STEM fields after graduation but also the American universities that recruit them. Since the vast majority of foreign students pay full tuition, without relying on institutional scholarships or even federal student loans, foreign students are important sources of revenue for many American colleges. The influx of foreign students in the US last year was at the highest growth rate in thirty-five years.
“This extension is absolutely going to help colleges in the competition for the limited pool of international students [that want] a top-flight education in an advanced industrial economy,” Bill Stock, the incoming president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), said in BuzzFeed.
“As a kid, you have this craze of going to the U.S. to study,” Sapan Patel, an Indian student who graduated in 2012 with a master’s degree from NYU’s Tandon School of Engineering, told BuzzFeed. “But the worry and stress of getting a job in the U.S., to have that hanging over your head, that scares you.” Because of the uncertain and difficult visa process, Patel said, “some of my friends might decide to go to Canada, where getting a work permit and becoming a citizen is much easier, or to Australia.”
Along with the rule’s official publication, the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), which monitors international students and also certifies schools and programs, launched a STEM OPT Hub on DHS’ Study in the States. This hub includes resources for students, designated school officials, and employers.