U.S. Immigration Policy & Regulatory Updates

Last Updated: December 2, 2024

Guidance

The Office of Global Services (OGS) welcomes and supports international students and scholars at Georgetown University. IS Advisors are members of the NAFSA industry association, which advocates broadly for international education and specifically on the issues most relevant to international students and scholars. OGS also provides information on legal resources, including a list of immigration attorneys in the Washington, DC area. 

The U.S. immigration status of individuals within our community is affected by the determinations of the U.S. government. Monitor this page regularly for updates, which are provided for informational purposes only.

President Biden announced the termination of the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Public Health Emergency, effective on May 11, 2023, following the termination of the COVID-19 National Emergency on April 10, 2023. Please refer to the Frequently Asked Questions for SEVP Stakeholders Post-COVID-19 for specific information regarding the end of SEVP’s COVID-19 guidance for certified schools.

SEVP originally published its COVID-19 flexibilities to accommodate the national emergencies as they pertained to SEVP-certified schools and nonimmigrant students, including restrictions and disruptions to travel and changes in teaching methods at the time. The flexibilities were always intended as a temporary measure to allow nonimmigrant students to continue their studies with the least disruptions as possible and did not signify or result in a permanent change to the regulations.

Effective June 1, 2020, and until terminated by the President, Proclamation 10043 suspends “entry into the United States as a nonimmigrant of any national of the PRC [People’s Republic of China] seeking to enter the United States pursuant to an F or J visa to study or conduct research in the United States, except for a student seeking to pursue undergraduate study,” and who either:

  • Currently “receives funding from or who currently is employed by, studies at, or conducts research at or on behalf of […] an entity in the PRC that implements or supports the PRC’s ‘military-civil fusion strategy’,” or
  • In the past “has been employed by, studied at, or conducted research at or on behalf of […] an entity in the PRC that implements or supports the PRC’s ‘military-civil fusion strategy’.”

Precise determinations about what connections constitute support of the PRC’s “military-civil fusion strategy” is decided by the U.S. Department of State, which determines visa eligibility, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which determines U.S. admissibility; academic institutions are not involved. A decision of inadmissibility under P10043 cannot be appealed. The full proclamation is available in the U.S. Federal Register.