U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Daily Digest Bulletin

F-1 Students Seeking Optional Practical Training Can Now File Form I-765 Online 04/12/2021 WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services today announced that F-1 students seeking optional practical training (OPT) can now file Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, online if they are filing under one of these categories: (c)(3)(A) – Pre-Completion OPT; (c)(3)(B) – Post-Completion OPT; and (c)(3)(C) – 24-Month Extension of OPT for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) students. OPT is temporary employment that is directly related to an F-1 student’s major area of study. Eligible students can apply to receive up to 12 months of OPT employment authorization before completing their academic studies (pre-completion) and/or after completing their academic studies (post-completion). Eligible F-1 students who receive STEM degrees may apply for a 24-month extension of their post-completion OPT. “USCIS remains committed to maximizing our online filing capabilities,” said Senior Official Performing the Duties of USCIS Director Tracy Renaud. “The I-765 online filing option allows eligible students to file forms online in a more user-friendly fashion and increases efficiencies for adjudicators.” The option to file Form I-765 online is only available to F-1 students filing Form I-765 for OPT. If an applicant submits Form I-765 online to request employment authorization on or after April 15, but is eligible for a different employment authorization category, USCIS will deny the application and retain the fee. As USCIS continues to transition to paperless operations, the agency will work to expand online filing for Form I-765 to additional categories. Online filing allows applicants to submit forms electronically, check the status of their case anytime from anywhere, and receive notices from USCIS online instead of waiting for them in the mail. USCIS is using innovation and technology to meet the needs of applicants, petitioners and employees. Regardless of the paper or electronic format of an application or petition, USCIS is committed to ensuring a secure and efficient process for all. Individuals can file 11 USCIS forms online, which can all be found on the Forms Available to File Online page. To file these forms online, individuals must first create a USCIS online account at https://myaccount.uscis.gov/. This free account allows them to: Submit their forms; Pay their fees; Track the status of their case; Communicate with USCIS through a secure inbox; and Respond to Requests for Evidence. USCIS continues to accept the latest paper version of these forms by mail. For more information on USCIS and its programs, please visit uscis.gov or follow us on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and LinkedIn. Please do not reply to this message.  See our Contact Us page for phone numbers and e-mail addresses. STAY CONNECTED:

New from the Center for Immigration Studies, 4/19/21

Share Tweet Share What's the Real Problem at the Border? By Mark Krikorian National Review, April 12, 2021 Excerpt: In seeking more expeditious processing of illegal aliens at the border, the Biden administration is implementing an extra-legal increase in the number of de facto permanent residents of the U.S. That's the problem at the border, and to the extent the administration does anything to try to moderate it, it's only because of the political cost it is paying, not because it accepts it as a problem. Featured Blogs Ambassador Jacobson to Step Down as Border Co-Czar: With no clear policy from the administration, it's like plunging toilets on the Titanic By Andrew R. Arthur Enough's enough, and the Biden administration and Congress should recognize their own errors, and those of the courts, and change course, now. Jacobson's replacement ought to heed the advice of Mike Tyson, and advise the president to do so, too. It's Not Nice to Abandon Your Children — Another Look at the Border By David North Every time an "unaccompanied minor" crosses the border without his or her parents, we are dealing with parents abandoning their children. Sometimes the abandonment was in the past, when the parents left their kids behind (in, say, Central America) in a successful effort by the parents to come to the U.S. illegally; now they use coyotes to smuggle the kids into the U.S. to join them. Arizona Uses NEPA to Fight Biden's Poorly Thought-Out Immigration Policies By Julie Axelrod Yesterday, the state of Arizona took an important stand for the American environment. Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for implementing policies that have the direct effect of causing growth in the population of Arizona without conducting any analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Facts and Charts Show How Bad the Southwest Border Was in March: And how it's likely to get a whole lot worse, which at $775 per migrant child per day may tax your wallet By Andrew R. Arthur If the border reached a "breaking point" in February of that year, what words could be used to describe it this year, when the total number of illegal migrants generally and of UACs in particular is significantly higher, and the number of migrants in family units is near comparable levels to where they were in March 2019? More Blog Posts Quinnipiac Polling Spells More Border Trouble for Biden: He should change his border policies, because he does not have much support to lose Polling Shows Immigration Opportunities for GOP in House 'Swing' Races: If things don't get better at the border, look for Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) Amid Border Crisis, U.S. Government Strikes at Pakistani Smuggler of 'National Security Risk' Migrants Masking Immigration Realities on Purpose Mayorkas Does the Right Thing with EB-5 Minimum Investment Donate