Immigration news: US to issue student visa a year in advance; introduces premium processing for STEM applicants

Foreign nationals who are in Canada as visitors and who receive a valid job offer, will be able to apply for and receive a work permit without having to leave the country. The new rule will be valid until February 28, 2025. (Representational image by Butcher C via Wikimedia Commons 4.0)

US to issue student visa a year in advance: The US State Department has announced that F and M categories of student visas can now be issued up to a year in advance. According to the current visa regime, international students could apply only 120 days before the start of their study program; now they can submit their application 365 days in advance. However, even after obtaining the visa much in advance, international students will be allowed entry into the US only 30 days before their program starts.

The F1 is a student visa that is granted to international students who wish to pursue their studies in the US, and covers different levels of education – from elementary school to university and graduate school – along with other degrees as well. The M1 Visa is for students who wish to enroll in vocational studies in the US.

Get Canada work visa without leaving the country: Foreign nationals who are in Canada as visitors and who receive a valid job offer will be able to apply for and receive a work permit without having to leave the country. The new rule will be valid until February 28, 2025.

Prior to this temporary policy change, those applying to work in Canada would typically need to apply for their initial work permit before they came to Canada. If they were already in Canada with visitor status when they were approved for a work permit, they would need to leave Canada to be issued their work permit. With this policy in place, leaving Canada isn’t necessary.

To be eligible to apply, an applicant looking to benefit from this temporary public policy must

1. have valid status in Canada as a visitor on the day they apply

2. have a job offer that is supported by a labour market impact assessment (LMIA) or an LMIA-exempt offer of employment

3. submit an application for an employer-specific work permit no later than February 28, 2025

4. meet all other standard admissibility criteria.

Applicants who currently have visitor status but who have held a valid work permit in the past 12 months can get interim work authorization to start working for their new employer before their work permit application is finalized, according to the official statement of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).

Premium Processing for OPT and STEM students in the US: The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced the expansion of premium processing for certain F-1 students seeking Optional Practical Training (OPT) and F-1 students seeking science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) OPT extensions who have a pending Form-I-765 application for employment authorization and wish to request a premium processing upgrade. Online filing of upgrade is now available in these categories. USCIS continues to accept the latest paper version of this form by mail.

USCIS will reject premium processing requests for a pending Form I-765 received before March 6, and will reject any premium processing request for an initial or concurrently filed Form I-765 that is received before April 3.

To file Form I-907 online, an applicant must first create a USCIS online account which provides a convenient and secure method to submit forms, pay fees, and track the status of any pending application/service request.

Russia to ease visa regime for 6 countries including India: Russia is currently facilitating easing of visa procedures for nationals of six countries including India; the other countries being Syria, Indonesia, Angola, Vietnam, and the Philippines.

This attempt is to attract more tourists to Russia. In 2022, Russia saw a 96.1 percent decline in tourist arrivals as compared to the pre-pandemic numbers of 5.1 million travellers. In 2022, only 200,100 international tourists visited Russia, the greatest numbers being from Germany, Türkiye, and Iran.

Ireland extends Temporary Protection Permissions: Starting from February 16, 2023, Ireland has extended all residence permits granted on the basis of temporary protection so that the permit will now be valid until  March 4, 2024. This means that the permit will be renewed automatically and permission holders do not need to apply for an extension. In the future, all residence permits granted on the basis of temporary protection will be valid until March 4, 2024.

The current TPC (temporary protection certificate or yellow paper) and current IRP (Irish Residence Permit) will be valid until March 4, 2024, and holders can legally reside in Ireland even if they do not apply for a new TPC or IRP.

The extension to temporary protection and any subsequent residence permit card is free of charge for beneficiaries of temporary protection, according to a statement by the country’s Department of Justice.

Italy announces increased work permit quota: Italy has increased its work permit quota for 2023 - there will be 82,705 spots available, up from 69,700 in 2022, according to the Prime Ministerial decree.

Of the total, 44,000 spots are reserved for seasonal work, 31,205 spots are for the employment of certain nationalities in select professions such as construction, tourism, and telecommunications, among others; 7,000 spots for foreign nationals changing status who already hold a residence permit in Italy or the European Union and 500 spots for self-employed individuals, including entrepreneurs, start-up owners, prominent artists, chairpersons, CEOs, members of boards of directors and auditors in Italian companies who have held their position for at least three years.

Applications for work permits can be submitted beginning March 27, 2023, and are expected to be adjudicated within 30 days of submission.