On September 4, 2019, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published two notices asking for public comment on DHS's plan to modify a number of CBP (U.S. Customs and Border Protection) and USCIS (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services) forms to ask for additional identifying information and add social media presence questions. Comments on both notices are due by November 4, 2019.

The Department of Education (DoEd) recently has been reviewing school compliance with foreign gift and contract disclosure reporting requirements. On September 4, 2019 DoEd published notice of a proposed new form that would be used by schools to report gifts and contracts under 20 USC 1011f. Comments are due on or before November 5, 2019.

The Department of Labor (DOL) Office of Alien Labor Certification (OFLC) announced a timeline for implementation of filing the Form ETA-9035 Labor Condition Application (LCA) in the new DOL FLAG system, and the phasing out of filing LCAs in iCert. Instructional videos will be available by September 13, 2019, and an OFLC webinar is planned for September 18, 2019. The plan is that all LCAs will have to be filed in the new FLAG system starting 12:00 noon (Eastern) on October 1, 2019.

NAFSA and the Presidents’ Alliance for Higher Education and Immigration are working to coordinate an amicus brief for higher education institutions to join, to be filed with the Court in the WashTech litigation that is challenging the existence of OPT. The deadline to join this amicus brief is October 11, 2019. Consult NAFSA's WashTech Litigation page to find out how your institution can join the brief.

The court case Washington Alliance of Technology Workers v. Department of Homeland Security seeks to discontinue the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program, particularly post completion OPT and STEM OPT. A decision in the case against OPT could also put other forms of F-1 employment authorization at risk. Join us on Tuesday, September 3, 2019 from 3:00-4:00 eastern, for a discussion of the case, an explanation of how the higher education community and NAFSA are working to defend OPT, and how you and your institution can join the effort. The event is free of charge, but you must register to join. If you can't make it, it will be recorded and made available to NAFSA members.

On August 5, 2019, the Department of State (DOS) issued Guidance Directive 2019-03 to "remind sponsors of, and clarify, certain regulatory requirements in order to assist sponsors with the administration of exchange programs in the College and University Student category." The guidance stems from DOS's review of the J-1 exchange visitor College and University Student category.

Under a new policy effective July 23, 2019, DHS began applying its expedited removal deportation authority to the full extent allowed by statute, i.e., now individuals who entered without inspection and are encountered by DHS anywhere inside the United States can be subject to expedited removal if they cannot show continuous presence in the United States for at least two years. Prior policy in place since 2004 had limited expedited removal in the interior only to undocumented individuals who were within 100 miles of a U.S. land border and in the United States for less than 14 days.

Read a summary of top issues reported to NAFSA IssueNet from March 2019 to June 2019. Issues reported include H-1B adjudication delays; H-1B RFEs and denials; EAD card issues; administrative processing causing visa delays; and SEVP Portal issues.

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On July 1, 2019, the DOL Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) uploaded the newest prevailing wage data from the Occupational Employment Survey (OES) as generated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the year from July 2019 - June 2020. The effective date is July 1, 2019. OES wage data in the Foreign Labor Certification Data Center Online Wage Library and prevailing wage determinations issued from the National Prevailing Wage Center will reflect the new data.