Listen to live oral argument at the Supreme Court in the Trump v. Casa case regarding the executive order that seeks to seeks to redefine U.S. birthright citizenship by excluding children born in the United States to mothers who are either unlawfully present or legally present but on temporary status (such as tourist or student visas), unless the father is either a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident. The hearing will be on the government's request for a stay of the lower courts' nationwide injunctions and will not address the underlying substance or merits of the case. Links to the oral argument are on NAFSA's page on the executive order.

Members have reported instances of USCIS issuing Requests for Evidence (RFEs) to applicants and petitioners applying for immigration benefits. Read NAFSA's primer on the regulatory and policy basis of such requests.

Read the NAFSA IssueNet Quarterly Summary - First Quarter 2025 for highlights of the top issues reported through NAFSA IssueNet in January, February, and March, 2025.

On May 7, 2025 the Transportation announced the implementation of its REAL ID enforcement measures at TSA checkpoints nationwide. Visit NAFSA's REAL ID Act page for a refresher.

IE30 Update: International Student SEVIS Terminations and Restoration. May 2, 2025, 3:00 pm ET. LinkedIn discussion will cover SEVIS Terminations and Restoration, Key Considerations, Recent Visa Revocation Developments, and Impact on Summer Travel. With NAFSA Executive Director and CEO Dr. Fanta Aw, AILA Senior Director of Government Relations Shev Dalal-Dheini, and NAFSA Counsel and Director of Immigration Policy Heather Stewart.

Average visa interview wait time information is once again available on the Department of State's Global Visa Wait Times page on travel.state.gov. The page was finally updated with new data on April 25, 2025 after having been dormant since January 7, 2025.

Three new presidential executive orders relevant to higher education were signed on April 23, 2025: 1)Transparency Regarding Foreign Influence at American Universities. 2) Executive Order of April 23, 2025: Reforming Accreditation to Strengthen Higher Education; 3) White House Initiative to Promote Excellence and Innovation at Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Link to the orders on NAFSA's Current U.S. Administration page.

Numerous lawsuits against recent SEVIS record terminations are being filed across the United States. See a sample of cases already filed for an idea of the scope and issues being litigated.

A reminder that new USCIS guidance effective April 11, 2025 requires young nonimmigrants who turn 14 while in the U.S. to "re-register" with USCIS within 30 days of their birthday, even if previously registered and issued a Form I-94 when they entered the country. This may affect, for example, F-2, J-2, H-4 dependents and young F-1/J-1 students who entered before age 14. Most nonimmigrants who entered the U.S. at age 14+ are already automatically registered (as evidenced by their Form I-94) and do not need to re-register. See NAFSA's page for more details and links.

Remember to keep track of F-1 Special Student Relief (SSR) expiration dates. Note that Hong Kong SSR already expired in February, and Sudan and Ukraine SSR will expire soon, on April 19, 2025.