Immigration News December 2023

Time Sensitive Reminders for F-1 Students

Graduation and Beyond

Before December 15, 2023. If your I-20 is expiring, or you applied for Fall 2023 graduation but require another semester to complete academic requirements, notify the International Center through Ask an Advisor in iComet. Failure to request an extension of your program before your program end date will result in the termination of your F-1 status.

Before February 13, 2024. If you are an F-1 student, have completed your academic requirements and will remain in the U.S. after graduation, make appropriate preparations such as applying for OPT, starting another academic program or transferring out to another school.

Current Student Check-In

Before Census Day January 31, 2024. All continuing students who will be enrolling in Spring 2024 must complete Current Student Check-In in iComet and complete the ‘To do task’ called ‘Review Home Address’ in Galaxy to show you are meeting the physical presence requirements of F-1 status. The iComet form and ‘To do task’ will be available for spring beginning December 18. Check-In must be completed from within the U.S., so plan your travel times accordingly.

Change of Level 

Before Census Day, January 31, 2024. Students who will complete an academic program or end OPT in the Fall 2023 semester and will continue or begin another degree program in the Spring 2024 semester, must obtain a Change of Level I-20  to maintain their F-1 status.

Change of Major

Census Day, January 31, 2024. Students whose primary major will change to a different Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) code for the Spring 2024 semester, will be issued a Change of Major I-20 by the International Center beginning Census Day of the Spring 2023 semester.  These students will receive an e-mail notification when their new I-20 has been issued.

Report Your OPT Employment

All students on OPT must report changes in employment within 10 days. Exceeding the limits on unemployment can result in DHS terminating your F-1 record. You may not be eligible for reinstatement for a termination during OPT or STEM OPT. Students on Post-Completion OPT may accrue up to 90 days of unemployment, and students on the 24-month STEM OPT extension can accrue an additional 60 days of unemployment, for a total of 150 days. Although you can update some information in the SEVP Portal, you are still required to report directly to the ISSO through the iComet Portal.

The ISSO strongly recommends reviewing your reporting requirements for Post-Completion OPT and STEM OPT online to ensure you know how to maintain your F-1 status.

Understand Immigration Consequences Before Dropping Courses

Even if you attended classes full-time for the entirety of the semester, dropping below full-time enrollment after the end of the term without authorization is still a violation of F-1 status and can lead to termination of your immigration record. If you believe you may receive a poor grade in a class, please do not drop the class before understanding the immigration implications. First talk to your academic advisor regarding options that will not endanger your status as an international student. You may also refer to ISSO’s Reduced Enrollment web page to see if you are eligible for a Reduced Course Load (RCL) authorization.

ISSO Services over the Holidays

ISSO services will be limited during some periods around the holidays. The ISSO will be closed from December 23 through January 2 for the university’s winter break. We will reopen Wednesday, January 3. Complete requests submitted before December 13, 2023 will be processed before the ISSO closes at the end of the day on December 22, 2023. If you experience a critical immigration emergency outside International Center business hours, call the UT Dallas Police at 972-883-2222.

Travelling soon?

You will need a travel endorsed I-20 to re-enter the U.S. Check your current I-20 for a travel endorsement on page 2. If it was issued within 12 months (for current students) or 6 months (for OPT students), then you may use the I-20 you already have for travel. The travel endorsement must be valid on the date you re-enter the U.S.  If the endorsement is expired, or you do not have an endorsement on your I-20, submit a Travel Signature Request in iComet to request a new I-20. The ISSO will send your new I-20 with travel endorsement by email. You will print and sign it to use for travel.

The ISSO will also be offering our I-20 Travel Signature Kiosk to provide on-the-spot I-20 travel endorsements before the holidays. The kiosk will be available in the central seating area on the 3rd Floor of SSB every Tuesday and Thursday from 10am-12pm starting November 28 up to December 21.

If you have more travel questions, you can Register here for a F-1 Travel Group Chat on Microsoft Teams with the ISSO Associate Director on December 1 or December 11 from 2-3 pm. Limit of 40 people per chat session.

USCIS Launches New Online Change of Address Tool

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has launched a new Enterprise Change of Address (E-COA) self-service tool to allow customers with pending applications, petitions, or requests to update their address with USCIS more easily. E-COA will significantly improve the speed and efficiency of the process for USCIS customers to update their address with USCIS.

With E-COA, most individuals with a USCIS online account can update their mailing and physical address with USCIS for pending applications, petitions, or requests in a single place, eliminating the need to update the address in multiple places; fill out a paper AR-11, Alien’s Change of Address Card; call the Contact Center; or visit a USCIS Field or Asylum Office. E-COA will automate address changes for almost all form types (the exceptions are listed at uscis.gov/addresschange).

To use the E-COA tool, individuals need a USCIS online account, and must enter their last name, date of birth, and new physical and mailing addresses. Individuals are also encouraged to include information about their pending application, petition, or request. Changing your address with the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) will not change your address with USCIS. Please update your information with both USCIS and USPS.

F-1 Unauthorized Employment Affects All Students

International students working without valid employment authorization reduce the availability of lawful work, and undermine the ability of law abiding students to live and study in the U.S. If you are aware of visa fraud or international students working unlawfully in the U.S., report it here: Email or Call 1-866-DHS-2-ICE.

USCIS Potomac Service Center Moving Location

The Potomac Service Center (PSC) has begun to move to a new facility in Camp Springs, MD, and can no longer receive paper responses to correspondence such as Notices of Intent to Deny (NOID), Notices of Intent to Revoke (NOIR), Intents to Deny (ITD), Requests for Evidence (RFE) or supporting documentation for filings currently pending at the PSC. PSC will no longer accept mailed correspondence beginning on Nov. 13, 2023. To avoid any processing delays, applicants and their representatives should instead upload their responses to their USCIS online account (for receipt notices that start with IOE-) or mail them to the Texas Service Center at:

USCIS Texas Service Center

Attn: Digital RFE

6046 N Belt Line Rd. STE 114

Irving, TX 75038

USCIS strongly encourages students to use your USCIS online account self-service tools to upload your responses for all online cases.

DHS Issues Proposed Rule to Modernize the H-1B Process

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), through U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that would modernize the H-1B specialty occupation worker program by streamlining eligibility requirements, improving program efficiency, providing greater benefits and flexibilities for employers and workers, and strengthening integrity measures.

The proposed rule would change how USCIS conducts the H-1B registration selection process to reduce the possibility of misuse and fraud. Under the current process, the more registrations that are submitted on behalf of an individual, the higher chance that individual will be selected in a lottery.  Under the new proposal, each unique individual who has a registration submitted on their behalf would be entered into the selection process once, regardless of the number of registrations submitted on their behalf. This would improve the chances that a legitimate registration would be selected by significantly reducing or eliminating the advantage of submitting multiple registrations for the same beneficiary solely to increase the chances of selection. See the full DHS Press Release for more information.

DHS Extends Special Student Relief (SSR) to Cameroonian Students

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) posted a Federal Register Notice announcing the suspension of certain regulatory requirements for F-1 nonimmigrant students from Cameroon who are experiencing severe economic hardship as a result of the current armed conflict and current humanitarian crisis in Cameroon. This notice extends Special Student Relief (SSR) for eligible Cameroonian students from Dec. 8, 2023, until June 7, 2025. This notice temporarily suspends applicable on-campus and off-campus employment regulations for eligible Cameroonian students. DHS will continue to monitor the situation in Cameroon and will announce any additional modifications or extensions to this notice in the Federal Register. See the full Register Notice for more information.

Effects of Strikes

On November 6, 2023, SEVP published guidance that interprets and applies F-1 regulations at 8 CFR 214.2(f)(14) regarding the effects of a Department of Labor (DOL)-certified strike on F-1 students. In the event of a labor strike affecting their academic program or their employment, F-1 visa holders have options. F-1 nonimmigrant status does not require visa holders to cross the picket line. If a current F-1 student’s attending school is participating in a strike and their ability to enroll or attend class is affected, the school may submit an alternative operational plan to SEVP that details their modified operations for the duration of the strike. Additionally, although a strike would automatically suspend an F-1 student’s authorized employment (CPT or OPT) in the event of work stoppage, students would not be required to leave the United States due to a strike at their place of employment unless and until they reach the regulatory limit for unemployment under OPT. See the complete ICE Guidance and FAQ for more information.

Help Keep our Campus Safe and Welcoming

All members of our University community share in a collective responsibility to make our campus peers feel welcome and  safe. Stand up and step in by recognizing potentially harmful situations (physical, mental, social or emotional)  affecting individuals or groups, and respond in a way that could positively influence the outcome.  For more information, visit Comet Voice.

ISSO is here for you

There are many ways to contact the ISSO. You can reach out through your iComet Portal, join us for a Live Chat online, or schedule an appointment. You can also check us out on Facebook or Instagram. We offer virtual workshops for OPT and CPT in iComet, and we are making plans to resume some in-person workshops on-campus this spring. Watch the Comet Calendar for upcoming events!