U.S. Immigration Alerts

FGI FIVE: U.S. Immigration News Summary – Week of May 30, 2025

State Department Pauses New Student and Exchange Visa Appointments in Preparation For An Expansion of Social Media Screening and Vetting

• The Trump administration is considering implementing a requirement that all foreign students applying to study in the United States undergo social media vetting — a significant expansion of previous such efforts.  
• In preparation for such required vetting, the administration is ordering U.S. embassies and consular sections to pause scheduling new interviews for such student visa applicants, according to the cable, dated Tuesday, May 27, and signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.  
• If the administration carries out the plan, it could severely slow down student visa processing. It also could hurt many universities who rely heavily on foreign students to boost their revenue. 
• The cable does not specify what the future social media vetting would screen for, but it alludes to executive orders that are aimed at keeping out terrorists and battling antisemitism.  

SOURCE: Politico, May 27, 2025. https://www.politico.com/news/2025/05/27/trump-team-orders-stop-to-new-student-visa-interviews-as-it-weighs-expanding-social-media-vetting-00370501?nname=playbook-pm&nid=0000015a-dd3e-d536-a37b-dd7fd8af0000&nrid=992d4ee8-1433-4f63-994a-d1f9191cf707 

E-Verify technical issue may require action by U.S. employers

• E-Verify recently experienced a technical issue with Social Security Administration (SSA) mismatch (tentative nonconfirmation) cases that were referred between April 9 and May 5, 2025. 
• This includes cases involving dual SSA and DHS mismatches if the employee attempted to resolve the case by visiting an SSA office but did not contact DHS.
• Due to this system error, some of these cases may have incorrectly received a final nonconfirmation (FNC) even after the employee took steps to resolve the mismatch at an SSA office.

• Action Required: 

• • For any cases that received an FNC after an SSA or Dual SSA and DHS mismatch, for cases referred from April 9 to May 5, 2025, employers must create a new E-Verify case.
  • If an employer has already created a new case and received an Employment Authorized result for an affected employee, no further action is needed.
  • Employers may notice the status message “E-Verify Needs More Time” appearing longer than usual for these cases on the Case Status page. 
• Important: If you receive an FNC for one of these affected cases, do not take any adverse action and do not terminate employment based on that FNC result during this time.

SOURCE: US Citizenship and Immigration Services, May 19, 2025: www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-related-news/alert-employer-action-required-e-verify-mismatch-case-issue 

Republicans and Democrats ask Rubio to retain H-1B domestic renewal pilot program

• Republican and Democratic lawmakers have joined forces to send a bipartisan letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, urging the permanent expansion of a 2024 pilot program that allowed select H-1B recipients to renew their visas domestically.
• The pilot, launched last year, permitted 20,000 qualified H-1B visa holders to complete renewals domestically, provided their biometric data had been previously collected and could be reused.
• With the program set to expire, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are advocating for its permanent adoption and broader application to benefit more visa holders.
• The bipartisan letter, sent on May 7, 2025, stressed the importance of expanding the State Department’s 2024 pilot program, which allowed certain H-1B visa holders to renew their visas without leaving the country.
• They urged the department to establish clear eligibility guidelines and consider including additional visa categories—such as E, H, I, L, O, and P—in future expansions.
• Democratic Representatives Suhas Subramanyam of Virginia, Ami Bera and Ro Khanna of California, and Shri Thanedar of Michigan jointly sent the letter with Republicans McCormick and Don Bacon of Nebraska.
• The letter was also signed by a group of Democratic lawmakers, including Representatives Sanford Bishop (Georgia), Yvette Clarke (New York), Lou Correa (California), Jonathan Jackson (Illinois), Hank Johnson (Georgia), Sarah McBride (Delaware), Jim McGovern (Massachusetts), Deborah Ross (North Carolina), Terri Sewell (Georgia), and Marc Veasey (Texas).

SOURCE: Billal Rahman, Newsweek, May 16, 2025: www.newsweek.com/republicans-push-expand-h-1b-visa-program-immigration-2073175

Forbes: DOJ whistleblower policy may affect H-1B visa holders and U.S. employers

• Under a new policy, the Justice Department will prioritize whistleblower tips about employers accused of violating federal immigration law. 
• DOJ can apply the new whistleblower policy against employers of H-1B visa holders and other highly skilled foreign-born professionals. 
• In recent weeks, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has issued Requests for Evidence for H-1B and employment-based immigrant petitions, claiming to have “adverse information” on individuals. Those actions appear focused on specific employees rather than companies.
• Criminal charges can debilitate business operations and result in long-term reputational damage. Criminal exposure can include prison terms of up to 10 years per count, fines of up to $500,000 per count and forfeiture of assets.

SOURCE: Stuart Anderson, Forbes, May 19, 2025: www.forbes.com/sites/stuartanderson/2025/05/19/new-doj-whistleblower-policy-bad-news-for-employers-of-immigrants-and-h-1b-visa-holders/

OPT visa holders threatened by ICE with SEVIS revocations

• On Thursday, May 15, 2025, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) sent letters to international students in OPT programs that threatened to terminate their legal status in the Student Exchange and Visitor Information System (SEVIS) and deport them from the U.S. 
• In the letters, ICE warns students who have not reported employment status within 90 days of starting their OPT visa that they must do so in 15 days. Otherwise, their SEVIS record will be terminated. 
• It is not known whether any of the affected students were on a special visa extension known as OPT for STEM, awarded to graduates in high-demand technology, science, and engineering fields. 
• It is not clear if OPT students’ SEVIS terminations would result in subsequent visa revocations, which are the purview of the State Department.

SOURCE: Liam Knox, Inside Higher Ed, May 16, 2025: www.insidehighered.com/news/global/international-students-us/2025/05/16/ice-warns-international-students-more-sevis

The content of this article is intended only to provide a general guide to the subject matter. It should not be construed as legal advice. Please contact FGI at info@employmentimmigration.com or (+1) 248.643.4900 for guidance if you have specific questions.