New $1,000 Parole Fee Does Not Apply to Adjustment of Status Applicants
On October 15, 2025, USCIS announced the implementation of the new immigration parole fee required by the “Great Big Beautiful Bill” passed earlier this year. The fee is $1,000 and will be adjusted for inflation on an annual basis. The fee is not due upon filing an application for parole (Form I-131); applicants should instead wait until USCIS notifies them that they must pay the fee. USCIS will not approve applications subjected to the fee until the fee is paid.
There are ten exceptions where the $1,000 parole fee does not apply, including for lawful applicants for adjustment of status who are returning to the US after temporarily traveling abroad. See the Federal Register notice for a full list of exceptions here.
USCIS Publishes Revised SEVIS Forms
On November 25, 2025, USCIS published in the Federal Register notice of their revision to SEVIS Form I-17 (Petition for Approval of School for Attendance by Nonimmigrant Student) and Form I-20 (Certificate of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant (F-1/M-1) Student Status).
Form I-17 will be revised as follows:
Adding the following fields:
previous schools codes associated with the school/owner;
School website links;
Emergency contact information for the school;
Additional school ownership information;
Remove fax number field;
Redesigning “Program of Study” page “to better capture the educational level, degree, program of study, time necessary to complete the program, assigned Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) code, and mode of instruction;”
Schools must indicate whether a program of study is primarily conducted online or in a hybrid/”low residency” format and whether Curricular Practical Training is a component of a program of study;
New form options:
DSOs may now select “weeks” as an academic term length;
DSOs may now list annual costs by program of study or degree level;
DSOS may now provide additional contact information;
New form requirements:
DSOs must provide separate numbers for domestic and international students when listing the average annual number of students;
DSOs must indicate whether DSO works full-time or part-time; and
Changes DSO’s “Title” to “Job Title” “to better collect information on their position at the school.”
Form I-20 will be revised with the following additions:
Collect contact/other information for legal guardians of minor F and M students;
Date of student’s graduation/degree awarded;
Clarifying details on source and time of financial support provided for F and M students;
Information to indicate whether student is engaging in online education or on-campus employment; and
Information indicating whether a student’s employment/training is being conducted at an on-site location or remotely.
See USCIS’s notice in the Federal Register here.
SEVP Reminds Schools of Authority to Conduct Site Visits
On November 14, 2025, the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (“SEVP”) sent a broadcast message to all participating schools reminding them of SEVP’s authority to conduct out-of-cycle on-site visits, and the consequences for failing to comply with those visits. Based on the broadcast message, SEVP is interpreting the immigration regulations codified at 8 C.F.R. § 214.3 as granting SEVP authority to conduct out-of-cycle on-site reviews of schools without notice and at any time. SEVP is also asserting the power to use out-of-cycle on-site reviews through immediate campus visits to determine whether students are complying with DHS regulations. See the announcement from NAFSA here.
From the Association of Independent Colleges & Universities of Massachusetts: “Eds & Meds: The First Statewide Economic Impact Report”
The Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce recently commissioned a report to better understand the role of hospitals and universities as key anchors of the Massachusetts economy today. That report, “Anchored in Excellence: How Massachusetts’ Education and Healthcare Institutions Drive Regional Economic Growth” is now available to the public.
As aptly summarized by the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Massachusetts (AICUM): “Massachusetts’s hospitals, universities, colleges, and community health centers—collectively known as “Eds & Meds”—are more than providers of world-class education and healthcare. They are foundational to our state’s economic vitality, driving innovation, employment, and regional development.
“These institutions serve as anchors for economic growth, attracting businesses and talent while fostering entrepreneurship and technological advancement. Their impact extends far beyond the vital services they deliver—Eds & Meds are critical engines powering our cities, towns, and the Commonwealth as a whole.”
The report analyzed 88 colleges and universities as well as 93 health systems across the Commonwealth. Per AICUM, “the findings are clear: billions in economic output and tax revenue, hundres of thousands of jobs, and an unmatched concentration of talent and innovation.”
Visa Bulletin Update
The Department of State publishes a monthly Visa Bulletin which operates as the “waiting list” for green cards (immigrant visas), with an individual’s Priority Date serving as their place in line. The Bulletin identifies all immigrant visa “preference” categories and indicates whether a backlog exists for that category. When a backlog exists, an individual in that category may not apply for a green card (or “adjust status”) until their Priority Date becomes “current.” A priority date is current when it is earlier than the date listed in the Visa Bulletin. The Bulletin lists family-based preference categories and employment-based preferences. Each of these areas is then further separated into two charts, Final Action Dates chart and the Dates for Filing chart. The Final Action Dates chart indicates whether an individual can expect USCIS to make a decision on their application soon, whereas the Dates for Filing chart, if USCIS chooses to use it that month, indicates whether an individual may file their adjustment application and receive the benefits associated with having a green card application pending with USCIS.
In December 2025, USCIS will be using the Dates for Filing chart for both employment- and family-based preference categories.
The EB-2 and EB-3 preference categories remain backlogged for all countries. The State Department advanced Priority Dates as follows:
EB-1:
China: 1 month
India: 1 month
EB-2:
Mexico, Philippines, and All Other: 2 months
China: 2 months
India: 1.5 months
EB-3:
Mexico, Philippines, and All Other: 2 weeks
China: 1 month
India: 1 month
Other Workers:
Mexico, Philippines, and All Other: 2 weeks
China: 1 week
India: 1 month
See the December 2025 Visa Bulletin here.
If you have questions about planning, please schedule a consultation with one of the attorneys at Iandoli, Desai & Cronin (info@iandoli.com).
Massachusetts Legislature considers new law requiring employers to notify employees of I-9 audits.
The Massachusetts Legislature is currently considering a bill that would require employers to notify its workers when ICE or another government agency notifies the employer of an intent to inspect the employer’s I-9 records and personnel files. Senate Bill No. 2665 (Senate Docket No. 3091) would amend Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 149 § 19C to require that employers provide employees with three days’ written notice of ICE’s or another federal agency’s audit of I-9s and personnel files. The Department of Homeland Security is required to provide three days’ notice of its intent to examine an employer’s I-9 files through a Notice of Inspection, which would mean that employers must notify employees of the inspection upon receiving the Notice of Inspection.
S.B. 2665 was first introduced to the Legislature on July 24, 2025, and the Legislature held a hearing on the proposal on November 20, 205. See the bill text here and track the bill’s progress through the Legislature here.
USCIS Will Now Only Accept Credit Card and ACH Payments for Filing Fees
This past October, USCIS transitioned away from accepting checks and money orders as payment for form filing fees. USCIS now requires that all payments be made with a credit card via Form G-1450 or with an ACH debit from a bank account via Form G-1650.
The credit card payment form has historically been unreliable due to manual data entry errors at USCIS Service Centers and Lockboxes, and IDC is still seeing some credit card forms being rejected for unknown reasons. To ensure the highest likelihood that USCIS accepts your payment forms, we recommend the following precautions:
If you are planning to make an ACH payment, confirm: (1) your bank will permit the US Department of Homeland Security to debit funds from your account by removing the ACH debit block; (2) your bank will permit the Department of Homeland Security’s Agency Location Codes (the Location Codes are available on USCIS’s filing fee webpage under “ACH Debit Block"); and (3) any daily maximum charge allowance is set higher than the total fees authorized.
If you are planning to make a credit card payment, confirm: (1) the filing fees can be covered by your card’s currently available line of credit; (2) any daily maximum charge allowance is set higher than the total fees authorized; and (3) your credit card company has noted the following entities as authorized parties so that your payment is not flagged as fraudulent: (a) USCIS; (b) US Department of Homeland Security; and (c) US Department of Treasury Pay.gov Trusted Collection Service (TCS).
IDC Welcomes 10th Attorney: Lindsay Nichols!
We are pleased to announce that we have added a 10th immigration attorney to our firm. Attorney Lindsay J. Nichols first joined IDC last fall as a law student intern (“co-op") and has since been promoted to Attorney upon her admission to the Massachusetts Bar this past November. Lindsay started working in immigration law in 2018 as an administrative assistant and paralegal at a private immigration firm in Boston, where she gained experience with a large variety of business immigration cases for companies of all sizes and in numerous industries. During law school at Northeastern University, Lindsay also completed co-ops with Northeastern’s Office of the General Counsel and Greater Boston Legal Service’s Immigration Unit. Additionally, Lindsay worked in her school’s immigration clinic as a student and Research Assistant. Lindsay earned her Juris Doctor from Northeastern University in 2025 and her bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Economics, magna cum laude, from Simmons University in 2018. Lindsay grew up in a working-class household and is the first person in her family to become a lawyer.
AP: US Revokes visas for 6 foreigners over Charlie Kirk-related speech
Reporting from AP on October 14, 2025, found that the U.S. has revoked visas for at least six foreign nationals “deemed by U.S. officials to have made derisive comments or made light of the assassination” of Charlie Kirk. The State Department said it made the decision to revoke their visas based on the foreign nationals’ social media posts and clips about Kirk.
Read the AP article here.
ICE publishes February 2025 policy update to Expedited Removal
In late October 2025, ICE made publicly available a February 28, 2025 memorandum that provided a policy update for expedited removal, the legal mechanism DHS uses to quickly deport certain noncitizens without a deportation hearing. This policy guidance is the implementation of a January 24, 2025 Executive Order, “Designating [Noncitizens] for Expedited Removal.” The ICE guidance is available here.