News Update - October 18, 2008

By Alan Lee, Esq.

STEM Program List Amended to Include Majors in Chemical Engineering

The Department of Homeland Security on April 8, 2008, published an interim final rule allowing optional practical training for 17 months in addition to the 12 months for F-1 non-immigrant students with degrees in science, technology, engineering and and math (STEM) so that they could remain in the U.S. for a longer period of time and perhaps apply for H-1B status in 2009 if they were not selected under the H-1B cap for 2008. (The rule is not confined to 2009, and its benefits can be used in other years). The field of chemical engineering was left out of the initial list. On September 25, 2008, the list was updated to include code 14.0701, "chemical engineering", to correct what is now termed an "omission" by DHS. If a student's application for employment authorization for the 17 month STEM extension was denied because chemical engineering was not on the list, U.S.C.I.S. will now reopen the application upon notice from SEVP (Student and Exchange Visitor Program). U.S.C.I.S. will not entertain requests to reopen that do not come directly from SEVP/ICE. SEVP can be contacted at sevis.source@dhs.gov with "STEM denial review-chemical engineering" in the subject line.

 


The author is a 26+ year practitioner of immigration law based in New York City. He was awarded the Sidney A. Levine prize for best legal writing at the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in 1977 and has written extensively on immigration over the past years for the ethnic newspapers, World Journal, Sing Tao, Pakistan Calling, Muhasha and OCS. He has testified as an expert on immigration in civil court proceedings and was recognized by the Taiwan government in 1985 for his work protecting human rights. His article, "The Bush Temporary Worker Proposal and Comparative Pending Legislation: an Analysis" was Interpreter Releases' cover display article at the American Immigration Lawyers Association annual conference in 2004, and his victory in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in a case of first impression nationwide, Firstland International v. INS, successfully challenged INS' policy of over 40 years of revoking approved immigrant visa petitions under a nebulous standard of proof. Its value as precedent, however, was short-lived as it was specifically targeted by the Administration in the Intelligence Reform Act of 2004.

This article © 2008 Alan Lee, Esq.

 

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