Welcome back to Visalawyerblog! We hope you had a wonderful Christmas break with your families. In this blog post, we share a new update from the State Department regarding the continuation of its interview waiver policy for certain nonimmigrant visa types. In a new announcement, the Secretary of State has…
Articles Posted in Student Visa
USCIS Announces Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS) Loses Accreditation: How this Impacts F-1 Students, STEM OPT Extensions, H-1B Master’s Cap, and More…
In this blog post, we bring you some unfortunate news. Recently, the U.S. Department of Education announced that it will no longer recognize the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS) as an accrediting agency. Sadly, this means that certain F-1 student visa applicants will be impacted by this…
Status of Worldwide Consular Visa Operations, October 2022
Our readers will be happy to know that the Department of State has released a new update in the month of October on the status of worldwide consular visa operations. The COVID-19 pandemic caused a period of uncertainty and created tremendous backlogs at the Consular level. As most of you…
F/M/J Visa Applicants who are Residents of Russia can now apply at U.S. Missions Kazakhstan, Belgrade, and Yerevan
Happy Monday! Welcome back to Visalawyerblog! In this blog post we share some great news for Russian nationals seeking F, M, and J nonimmigrant visa interviews. On January 21, 2022, the Department of State announced that the agency has now designated several posts overseas to process these nonimmigrant visa applications…
DHS Issues Federal Notice Updating STEM Designated Degrees for Post-completion Optional Practical Training (OPT) Eligibility
More immigration news is coming your way. This week important updates have been released for F-1 students seeking post-completion Optional Practical Training in certain STEM-related fields of study. DHS Issues Advance Copy of STEM Designated Degree Program List for post-completion Optional Practical Training If you are an international student studying…
Department of State Releases Information Regarding Waiver of the In-Person Interview Requirement for Certain Nonimmigrant Visa Applicants
We have very exciting news for nonimmigrant visa applicants. Today, December 23rd, the Department of State announced that the agency has granted Consular officers the discretionary power to waive the in-person interview requirement for certain temporary employment nonimmigrant visa applicants, provided such applicants have a petition approved by USCIS. This…
Immigration Updates: DACA USCIS Guidance, Bridge the Gap Policy Abandoned, First Time TPS Applications Can Now Be Filed Online for 5 Countries, and TPS Extensions and Re-designations for Yemen and Somalia
Welcome back to Visalawyerblog! We are happy to bring you the latest immigration updates recently announced by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). USCIS Guidance Following DACA Permanent Injunction in State of Texas, et al., v. United States of America, et al., 1:18-CV-00068, (S.D. Texas July 16, 2021)…
DOS Update: Entry of F-1, M-1, Certain Exchange Academics, Journalists, and Critical Infrastructure Workers, in the National Interest Despite COVID-19 Regional Presidential Proclamations
In today’s blog post, we are happy to bring our readers some very exciting news. On April 26, 2021, the Department of State formally announced a new National Interest Determination for certain categories of nonimmigrant visa applicants currently unable to enter the United States due to COVID-19 related Regional Presidential…
F-1 Update: I-765 EAD Applications for Optional Practical Training (OPT) Can Now Be Filed Online
Welcome back to Visalawyerblog! It’s a brand-new week and we are excited to share with you a recent update that will benefit F-1 students applying for employment authorization under the Optional Practical Training program (OPT). Today, April 12, 2021, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that F-1…
UPDATE: Trump Administration Rescinds Policy Requiring International Students to Attend In-Person Classes
We are very happy to announce that yesterday July 14, 2020, the Trump administration backed down and agreed to cancel a new set of federal guidelines that would have required international students to attend classes in-person during the upcoming Fall 2020 semester. As you may be aware, on Monday July…