In light of the rising popularity of massive open online courses, or MOOCs, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recently issued a press release to remind F-1 and M-1 students of some important rules pertaining to foreign students enrolling in online classes. Although F-1 and...
Many F-1 students on optional practical training (OPT) are the beneficiaries of H1B petitions filed against the fiscal year 2015 cap. Some of these F-1 students have learned, or will learn shortly, that they are among the lucky ones whose H1B petitions were selected in...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that, as of January 2014, more than half a million employers are participating in the E-Verify program. E-Verify allows employers to verify online whether an individual is legally authorized to work in the United States. The increased...
The Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) recently released a quarterly report on the statistical data in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS). The report provides interesting and useful insight on the demographics of international students in the United States, and a comparison between...
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued an extensive report in February 2014 regarding the oversight of the optional practical training (OPT) program for F-1 and M-1 foreign students. In the report, the GAO concludes that there is a need for additional risk assessment and...
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued a public notice on February 6, 2014 reconfirming that unpaid internships are a permissible form of employment for foreign nationals in F-1 status engaged in initial optional practical training (OPT). This statement was issued in response to...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) recently made permanent a visa interview waiver program that was initiated as a temporary, pilot program in January 2012. This program allows some individuals seeking renewals of previously issued visas to have their applications adjudicated without having to attend...
Current and prospective foreign national students may find it difficult to navigate through all the available options for studying in the United States, and the requirements that must be met. With this in mind, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) unveiled a new web portal...
In October 2013, the Nebraska Service Center (NSC) of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) unexpectedly began denying optional practical training (OPT) STEM extension applications submitted by F-1 students who had served as unpaid interns during their initial 12-month stays in OPT. Two foreign...
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has submitted proposed regulatory changes intended to improve the F-1 and M-1 student programs. The changes potentially would provide more resources in the form of additional designated school officials (DSOs). The proposals would also provide better options to F-1 and...
