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On Wednesday October 7, 2026 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) a branch of the US Department of Homeland Security published in the Federal Register a new Proposed Optional Practical Training Fee Rule impacting students holding F-1 status.
Is the Proposed Rule Effective Now? What is the timeline?
To be clear: This is a proposed rule and it is not currently in effect. F-1 students can continue to apply for OPT/STEM OPT...
On October 5, 2026, four major U.S. higher education organizations (NAFSA: Association of International Educators, the Association of American Universities, the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, and the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in Massachusetts) jointly sued the federal government (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Justice) in a Massachusetts federal court regarding recent policy guidance changes related to...
Updated 6/16/2026: On June 12, 2026, a federal district court in Massachusetts temporarily paused its previous June 8 order that had blocked the $100,000 H-1B fee. As a result of this update, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is once again authorized to require the fee for H-1B petitions that are filed for or are only approvable for consular notification.
This temporary pause will remain in place until an appeals court can rule on the government's anticipated request for a stay. However, the district court has given the government...
On Friday, June 5th 2026, a federal judge in Rhode Island, Judge McConnell, issued a decision officially ruling unlawful four recent U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) policies.
Most importantly, this includes the USCIS adjudication hold. This hold had paused the processing of immigration applications—such as green cards, work permits (including OPT and STEM OPT), and asylum—for...
Updated 10/20/2025: USCIS has updated its web page on H-1B Specialty Occupations to include updated information on the Presidential Proclamation on Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers. Some notable confirmations include:
The proclamation "does not prevent any holder of a current H-1B visa, or any alien beneficiary following petition approval, from traveling in and out of the United States." In other words, international employees with a current...
On October 1, 2025, a federal government shutdown began, due to Congress failing to pass legislation to fund the government for the new fiscal year (FY 2026). A U.S. government shutdown can have a range of impacts on international students, scholars, and employees at UC Berkeley, primarily by disrupting the operations of key federal agencies responsible for immigration. The severity of the impact generally depends on the duration of the shutdown, as well as how those agencies are funded. Some of these impacts may include the following:
On December 2, 2025 USCIS issued a new Policy Memorandum: Hold and Review of all Pending Asylum Applications and all USCIS Benefit Applications Filed by Aliens from High-Risk Countries.
Effective immediately, the memorandum directs U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to:
Place a hold on all Forms I-589 (Application for Asylum and for Withholding of Removal), regardless of the alien’s country of...
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has issued an Interim Final Rule (IFR) that ends the practice of automatically extending the validity of Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) for aliens who timely file a renewal application in certain eligibility categories, effective on October 30, 2025. For renewal EAD applications (Form I-765) filed on or after October 30, 2025, the current up-to 540-day automatic extension...
