2026 Updates on Executive Orders, Policy, and Legislation Impacting International Students

  • Updated

Hold and Review of USCIS Benefit Applications Filed by Aliens from Additional High-Risk Countries

On January 1, 2026, USCIS issued an additional Policy Memorandum: Hold and Review of USCIS Benefit Applications Filed by Aliens from Additional High-Risk Countries to include the additional countries listed in the December 16th, 2025 Expanded travel ban (Presidential Proclamation (PP) 10998, Restricting and Limiting the Entry of Foreign Nationals To Protect the Security of the United States.

Effective immediately, the additional memorandum directs U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to: 

This memorandum mandates that all aliens meeting these criteria will undergo a thorough re-review process, including a potential interview and, if necessary, a re-interview.  These steps could potentially impact applicants who have pending or approved OPT/STEM OPT and change of status applications, or other USCIS benefit requests less common among F/J status holders.  The stated purpose is to fully assess all national security and public safety threats along with any other related grounds of inadmissibility or ineligibility.  The memo indicates that within 90 days of issuance, USCIS will prioritize a list for review, interview, re-interview, and referral to other agencies as needed.

Travel Restrictions

Last Update: 12/16/2025

On December 16, 2025, President Trump issued a new and expanded Travel Proclamation -  Restricting and Limiting the Entry of Foreign Nationals To Protect The Security Of The United States.  This Proclamation is a new and expanded travel ban that builds on the travel Proclamation 10949 issued on June 4th, 2025.

Who is directly impacted?

  • This Travel Proclamation does not affect individuals from all countries. Suspension of entry to the U.S. applies only to foreign nationals of the designated countries who:
    • Are outside of the U.S. on or after 12:01 EST January 1, 2026, and
    • Do not have a valid visa on or after January 1, 2026
  • Entry to the U.S. is suspended for all immigrants/nonimmigrants nationals from the following countries: Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen New additions now include: Burkina Faso, Laos , Mali, Niger, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Syria and individuals with Palestinian Authority Documents.
  • Entry to the U.S. is suspended for immigrants, nonimmigrant B-1/B-2, F, M, and J visa nationals from Burundi,Cuba,Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela and new additions: Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Cote d ‘Ivoire, Dominica, Gabon, The Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Tonga, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
  • Note that the Proclamation specifically states that a visa issued before the effective date of the proclamation will not be revoked.

Exceptions:

  • This Travel Proclamation does not affect individuals from all countries. Suspension of entry to the U.S. applies only to foreign nationals of the designated countries who:
    • Are outside of the U.S. on or after 12:01 EST January 1, 2026, and
    • Do not have a valid visa on or after January 1, 2026
  • Entry to the U.S. is suspended for all immigrants/nonimmigrants nationals from the following countries: Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. New additions now include: Burkina Faso, Laos , Mali, Niger, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Syria and individuals with Palestinian Authority Documents.
  • Entry to the U.S. is suspended for immigrants, nonimmigrant B-1/B-2, F, M, and J visa nationals from Burundi,Cuba,Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela and new additions: Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Cote d ‘Ivoire, Dominica, Gabon, The Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Tonga, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. 
  • Note that the Proclamation specifically states that a visa issued before the effective date of the proclamation will not be revoked.
  • The ban provisions are applicable only to nationals of the subject country who are outside the U.S. without a valid visa as of January 1, 2026. Individuals who are outside the United States on that date but have a visa that is valid as of January 1 2026, would not be impacted by the ban.
  • The proclamation includes additional exceptions for lawful permanent residents, dual nationals traveling on a passport from a non-designated country, individuals granted asylum or refugee status, holders of diplomatic and international organization visas, and athletes participating in events like the 2026 World Cup and the 2028 Olympics. 
  • Some provisions exist for exemptions based on the national interest from the Attorney General/ DOJ, Secretary of State/DOS, Secretary of Homeland Security/DHS 

Federal Agents Deployed to San Francisco (Resolved)

On Wednesday, October 22nd, it was reported that federal agents, including U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents, were being deployed to the Bay Area for an immigration enforcement operation in San Francisco.

As of, Thursday, October 23rd, San Francisco mayor, Daniel Lurie, reported that deployment to the city had been called off. 

We would advise students that all non-immigrants are required to carry "proof of registration" (i.e. their I-94) and F-1 students are required to carry their Form I-20. We recommend that students carry paper copies of these documents with them at all times. 

Federal Government Shutdown (Resolved)

Update: As of November 13th, 2025 the US Federal Government shutdown has ended. 

On October 1, 2025, a federal government shutdown began, due to Congress failing to pass legislation to fund the government for the new fiscal year (FY 2026). A U.S. government shutdown can have a range of impacts on international students, scholars, and employees at UC Berkeley, primarily by disrupting the operations of key federal agencies responsible for immigration. The severity of the impact generally depends on the duration of the shutdown, as well as how those agencies are funded. Some of these impacts may include the following:

  • Visa Issuance: During the lapse in government funding, consular operations domestically and abroad will remain operational, including visa issuance. It is possible that delays or backlogs could occur.
  • U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS): USCIS is primarily a fee-funded agency, and will continue processing applications, at least in the short-term. It is possible that there may be processing delays if the government shutdown continues for an extended period of time.
  • Customs and Border Protection (CBP): Border inspections and operations at ports of entry are generally deemed essential and are expected to continue as usual.
  • J-1 Waiver Processing: If the Department of State's Waiver Review Division is affected, the processing of J-1 two-year home residency requirement waivers will be delayed.

New Visa Application Guidelines

On September 6, 2025 the US Department of State posted a notice indicating that, effective immediately, applicants for visas were to follow new guidance:

  • Applicants for U.S. nonimmigrant visas (NIV) should schedule their visa interview appointments at the U.S. Embassy or Consulate in their country of nationality or residence.
  • Nationals of countries where the U.S. government is not conducting routine nonimmigrant visa operations must apply at the designated embassy or consulate, unless their residence is elsewhere.  
  • Residence Requirement:  Applicants must be able to demonstrate residence in the country where they are applying, if the place of application is based on their residency.
  • Fees:  Applicants who schedule nonimmigrant interviews at a U.S. embassy or consulate outside of their country of nationality or residence might find that it will be more difficult to qualify for the visa.  Fees paid for such applications will not be refunded and cannot be transferred.  
  • Appointment Availability:  Wait times for nonimmigrant interview appointments vary by location.  Applicants applying outside their country of nationality or residence should expect to wait significantly longer for an appointment.
  • Existing Appointments:  Existing nonimmigrant visa appointments will generally not be cancelled.
  • Rare exceptions may be made for humanitarian or medical emergencies or foreign policy reasons.

New Visa Fees

H.R.1; the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" signed into law on July 4, 2025, imposes several new immigration fees to be paid in addition to any other fees otherwise required by law. These fees are effective immediately, but, at this time, the mechanism to collect the fees is not yet in place. We will continue to monitor this situation and update this article when the fee collection has been implemented.

*Please note that none of these fees are paid to UC Berkeley. The below fees are paid to The US State Department as part of the visa application and acquisition process or USCIS. 

Budget Law Imposes New Immigration Fees - Several fees have been implemented. This article reviews all of them. 

Fees that impact International Students:

Budget Law Imposes Nonimmigrant "Visa Integrity Fee" - A new fee of $250+ is expected to be charged at the time of visa issuance. At this time, the mechanism to collect the fee is not in place, but is expected to be implemented asap. 

Budget Law Imposes New "I-94 Fee" - A new fee of $24 will be charged for application for an I-94 Arrival record - At this time, we do not have clear information on which students this will impact. We will continue to update this resource as we receive more guidance. 

Changes to Visa Reciprocity Agreements

The US State Department updated the Visa Reciprocity tables. This has impacted changes in the length of validity of non-immigrant visas issued to citizens of particular countries. 

The following countries  will now be restricted to 3-month, single-entry visas:

Angola, Benin, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cote D'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, The Gambia, Ghana, Kyrgyzstan, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe, South Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Tonga, Tuvalu, Uganda, Vanuatu, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Please note that if you are from one of these countries and have a previously issued visa, there will be no update to the validity of that visa. 

F-1 and J-1 students are admitted to the US for the Duration of Status (D/S), meaning that as long as the student is in the US and maintaining valid F or J status, they can remain in the US even if their visa is expired. However, if a student's visa is expired or if they have exceeded the allowable number of entries to the US and they travel abroad, they will need to apply for a new visa before re-entering the US. 

Temporary Pause on Scheduling New Visa Appointments

*UPDATE* Per a US State Department Press Release on June 18, 2025, overseas posts will resume scheduling F, M, and J nonimmigrant visa applications soon.  Applicants should check the relevant embassy or consulate website for appointment availability. 

To facilitate this vetting, all applicants for F, M, and J nonimmigrant visas will be instructed to adjust the privacy settings on all of their social media profiles to “public.”

*UPDATE* As of June 9, 2025, we are receiving reports of students who have been able to schedule new visa appointments at multiple consulates. While this update is not true for all consulates and no official announcement has been made, we do encourage students who do not yet have a visa appointment for a summer or fall program to try to make an appointment.

As of, May 27th, 2025, several news outlets are reporting that the U.S. State Department will be temporarily pausing visa interview scheduling for student visas in order to clarify processes around vetting applicants' social media accounts. We continue to advise caution around travel for current students and encourage future students who are at risk of not acquiring a visa in time for their program to contact ISS.

 

Registration Requirements

On March 12th, Department of Homeland Security published an Interim Final Rule which becomes effective on April 11, 2025 that amends DHS regulations to designate a new USCIS alien registration process for certain nonimmigrants to comply with required “registration” and fingerprinting provisions. Most non-immigrant visa holders will NOT be affected. If you or your dependents were issued a non-immigrant visa prior to arrival and/or you have a valid I-94 and were legally admitted to the US, your I-94 is evidence of your “registration”. However, some individuals crossing Canadian land borders and dependent children who have or are turning 14 while in the U.S. may be impacted. You can review the USCIS procedures to determine if you or your dependents need to register or re-register and you can retrieve your I-94 which serves as proof of registration here.  

 

Protest Participation

Per a Fact Sheet and Executive Order issued in January 2025, entitled Additional Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism, we are seeing active measures being undertaken by several agencies including the Department of State, Department of Justice, and Homeland Security to seek out and cancel the visas of individuals who participated in protest activities related to the Israel-Hamas conflict in an Artificial Intelligence generated program called “Catch and Revoke.” 

While international students have a right to protest, please be advised that these activities do carry increased risk of adverse immigration related impact in the current climate. We advise you to be conscientious of your social media presence and understand that there can always be immigration consequences if you are arrested for any reason. 

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