On August 19, 2025, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it has expanded the types of benefit requests that receive social media vetting, adding reviews for “anti-American” and “antisemitic” activity to that vetting, stating that such activity will be “an overwhelmingly negative factor in any applicable case involving USCIS discretionary analysis.”
Specifically, the updated guidance states that it affirms that “USCIS considers factors involving circumstances where an alien has endorsed, promoted, supported, or otherwise espoused the views of an anti-American or terrorist organization or group, including those who support or promote antisemitic terrorism, antisemitic terrorist organizations, and antisemitic ideologies, to be an overwhelmingly negative factor in USCIS discretionary analyses.” This new policy is effective immediately.
Application types that would be subject to this new review include:
*Form I-539 Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status (including change of status, reinstatement to F-1 status, and others)
*Form I-765 Application for Employment Authorization (including F-1 Optional Practical Training, F-1 STEM OPT Extension, J-2 work permission, H-4 work authorization, and others)
Details are available in the following resources:
*USCIS News Release – August 19, 2025
*USCIS Policy Alert PA-2025-16, Clarifying Discretionary Factors in Certain Immigration Benefit Requests – August 19, 2025
Please contact your advisor at the MIT International Students Office (ISO) or the MIT International Scholars Office (ISchO) with any questions you may have.