F-1 Visa

The food and drug industry in the United States is highly-competitive, housing talent from within the country and abroad. Businesses in these industries should be aware of the different visa options available for hiring foreign talent in order to stay on top in an otherwise highly competitive market. Thus, here’s an overview of potential visa options and immigration strategies for those in the food and drug industries.
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F and M students and schools certified by the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) should continue to abide by guidance issued in March 2020 for the 2022-23 academic year.
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Hiring international students can be an excellent way to leverage some of the world’s best and most diverse talents for your organization. In this blog, we will be discussing the options for employment authorization that are available for international students studying in the US.
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The White House provided a fact sheet detailing new DHS actions intended to attract and maintain STEM talent in the US. These include DHS policy manual updates on O-1 visas, creation of the Early Career STEM Research Initiative, changes to SEVP, USCIS policy manual updates, and more.
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On Nov. 1, 2021, the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) published SEVP Policy Guidance: Use of Electronic Signatures and Transmission for the Form I-20, which establishes the procedures for the use of electronic signatures and transmission of the Form I-20, “Certificate of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant Students.” This guidance permits designated school officials (DSOs) to electronically sign and transmit the Form I-20 to initial and continuing students and their dependents.
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There are many visa categories for United States universities and colleges to employ faculty from across the globe. Therefore, in this article, the immigration and nationality lawyers at the NPZ Law Group explain these nonimmigrant (temporary) visa categories.
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International students are now and always have been among the Department of State’s highest priorities. The Department recognizes the important contributions these students make to our college and university campuses;
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Pursuant to a court order, USCIS extended the flexibilities for certain foreign students affected by delayed receipt notices for Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization. These flexibilities have been extended to include applications received on or after Oct. 1, 2020, through Oct. 31, 2021, inclusive. Applicants can file Form I-765 up to 120 days before the program end date if the application is received by Oct. 31, 2021.
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USCIS announced new policy guidance that eliminates the need for individuals who have applied for a change of status (COS) to F-1 student to apply to change or extend their nonimmigrant status while their initial F-1 COS application is pending.

Under the previous policy, applicants needed to maintain status up to 30 days before the program start date listed on their Form I-20, Certificate for Eligibility for Nonimmigrant Student Status, which required them to file extensions, or an initial COS and subsequent extensions ensuring that they would not have a “gap” in status.
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The Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) will extend the guidance originally issued in March 2020 for the 2021-22 academic year. This guidance enables schools and students to engage in distance learning in excess of regulatory limits due to the continuing public health concerns created by COVID-19.
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This notice announces that the Secretary of Homeland Security (Secretary) has suspended certain regulatory requirements for F-1 nonimmigrant students whose country of citizenship is Syria (regardless of country of birth) and who are experiencing severe economic hardship as a direct result of the civil unrest in Syria since March 2011.
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