Nonimmigrant Student Classifications

Key changes

• U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is issuing policy guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual to address the nonimmigrant student (F and M) classifications, including USCIS’ role in the adjudication of applications for employment authorization and change or reinstatement of status to F or M classifications.
• Provides general information about the nonimmigrant student (F and M) classifications and explains USCIS’ role in adjudicating applications for employment authorization, changes of status, extension of stay, and reinstatement of status for F and M students and their dependents in the United States.
• Explains that F and M students must have a foreign residence that they have no intention of abandoning, but that F and M students may be the beneficiary of a permanent labor certification application or immigrant visa petition and may still be able to demonstrate their intention to depart after a temporary period of stay.