Bar Exam Toolbox Podcast Episode 273: Quick Tips -- Mastering the Bar Exam as an ESL or Foreign-Trained Student
Harvard/MIT Student Visa Case
Nota Bene Episode 91: China Q3 Check In - Trade Wars, GDP Growth, Pandemic Comparatives, and Hong Kong with Michael Zhang
Update from Washington: Employer's Preview of Immigration Restrictions from the Administration
Nota Bene Episode 77: Labor, Employment, and Immigration in a Pandemic World with Kelly Hensley, Denise Giraudo, and Greg Berk
On July 23, 2024, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) added the category of Environmental/Natural Resource Economics (03.0204) as a qualifying field of study to the DHS STEM Designated Degree Program List. DHS did...more
As restrictions lessen on collegiate athletes’ ability to be compensated for their name, image, and likeness (NIL), international student-athletes in F-1 status continue to be at risk if they pursue these economic...more
Because of ongoing conflicts in Ethiopia and Gaza, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced relaxed employment authorization standards for Ethiopian and Palestinian F-1 students who are eligible for work...more
A lawsuit filed on August 10, 2023 against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security alleges that the agency violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), 5 U.S.C. § 702, by exceeding its authority and determining that a...more
On July 12, 2023, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) updated the STEM Designated Degree Program List by adding eight new qualifying fields of study. The Program List is generally used to determine whether a degree...more
On July 12, 2023, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) added eight new qualifying fields of study to the STEM Designated Degree Program List. F-1 nonimmigrant students who complete certain programs of study in the...more
On July 12, 2023, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) added eight fields of study to the Designated Degree Program List qualifying F-1 students to secure a STEM OPT (science, technology, engineering, mathematics...more
In Washington Alliance of Technical Workers v. DHS (WashTech), the D.C. Circuit held that optional practical training programs (OPT) that allow students on the nonimmigrant F-1 visa to work in the United States for up to...more
On April 30, 2022, Freeman Law posted my blog that provided a brief overview of international students in the U.S. pursuant to an F-1 visa and the limited circumstances under which those visa-holders may work in the U.S. See...more
The Department of Homeland Security recently added 22 new qualifying fields of study to its STEM Designated Degree Program List, which will greatly expand opportunities for international students to remain in the U.S. – and...more
On January 21, 2022, the Biden Administration announced that it would take actions to attract STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) talent to the U.S. in furtherance of its efforts to remove barriers to legal...more
F-1 nonimmigrant students who have U.S. degrees in certain programs in the fields of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) are eligible to apply for a twenty-four-month extension of Optional Practical...more
Effective January 21, 2022, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security updated and expanded the list of STEM fields of study falling within the regulatory definition of “STEM field.” The list, known as the “DHS Stem Designated...more
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced the withdrawal of proposed new rules that would have limited the time that individuals entering the U.S., including international students, could remain in the country,...more
The U.S. Citizenship Act, an immigration reform bill supported by President Joe Biden, was unveiled on Feb. 17 by Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., and Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Calif. The bill is a key element of the president's...more
Last week, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced changes that will be good news for foreign students seeking Optional Practical Training in areas related to their major areas of study. First, the 14...more
The Optional Practical Training Program for F-1 students (OPT) is not illegal, a federal judge has ruled in a case brought by Washington Alliance of Technology Workers (Washtech), a union representing workers in science,...more
On November 30, 2020, a federal district judge in the matter of Washington Alliance of Technology Workers v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, et al., No. 16-1170, issued an order to uphold the Obama-era program...more
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced the arrest of 15 individuals who claimed to work on Optional Practical Training (OPT) for nonexistent companies. In addition, USCIS notified 700 OPT recipients suspected...more
Foreign students wishing to study in this country may have whiplash over the Trump Administration’s many moves. Early in 2020, a federal court blocked the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from changing the rules...more
In the wake of a court order, the Department of Homeland Security has rescinded its cobbled-together policy that threatened to keep foreign students out of U.S. schools that moved to online-only courses in the face of the...more
On July 14, 2020, the Trump administration agreed to rescind a July 6, 2020, directive that planned to bar foreign students from the United States if their colleges canceled in-person instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic....more
In a rare reversal, minutes from the start of a federal court hearing in a lawsuit brought by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) against the US government, the Department of Homeland...more
The Trump administration, in response to a lawsuit filed by Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as well as several other suits, agreed to rescind its surprise Immigration and Customs Enforcement...more
National universities and states across the country filed multiple federal lawsuits this week seeking to invalidate and enjoin implementation of the Student and Exchange Visitor Program’s (SEVP) Fall 2020 COVID-19 Guidance,...more