News and Announcements

On May 23, 2019, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a final rule to adjust fees charged by the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) to international students, exchange visitors and SEVP-certified schools.

David C. Elwell, Associate Dean and Director of the MIT International Students Office, talks about impact of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) processing delays impacting international students seeking to pursue summer internships in the U.S.

As of Sunday, 43 graduate students and two undergraduate students have filed Optional Practical Training (OPT) work authorization applications, David Elwell, associate dean and director of MIT’s International Students Office (ISO), wrote in an email to The Tech.

International students at MIT and many other universities who applied for Optional Practical Training (OPT) work authorization are experiencing widespread government processing delays, preventing them from starting their summer internships.

Effective May 31, 2019, the U.S. Department of State has updated is nonimmigrant (DS-160) and immigrant (DS-260) visa applications forms for all applicants at U.S. Embassies/Consulates worldwide.

The U.S. Department of Treasury and the U.S. Department of Commerce announced changes to the Cuba Sanctions Rules, effective June 5, 2019. Changes include ending group people-to-people travel to Cuba and ending certain US exports to Cuba.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has announced, effect June 24, 2019, that the Student and Exchange Visitor Program fees charged to international students, exchange visitors, and SEVP-certified host institutions will increase.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Department of State announced that it is immediately suspending indefinitely all commercial and cargo flights between the United States and Venezuela.

On April 10, USCIS completed the random selection process (“lottery”) as it has received sufficient H-1B petitions for both the regular 65,000 cap and the 20,000 US-earned advanced degree (Masters degree or higher) cap for fiscal year 2020.

USCIS announced that is has received a sufficient number of petitions to reach the 65,000 H-1B visa regular “cap” for fiscal year 2020.