Communique – Volume 16, Number 10

December 2020

Greetings from the ISSO!

In this issue:

Court Invalidates New H-1 Wage and Eligibility Rules

On December 1, 2020, the US District Court struck down the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Department of Labor (DOL) interim rules changing H-1B wage and eligibility requirements that were announced on October 8, 2020. Both rules have been prevented from being implemented. Please refer to the ISSO news for more details about this positive development.

While this delay of implementation is certainly a step in the right direction, further regulatory rulemaking to officially nullify the rules are needed. The DOL is in the process of updating their Foreign Labor Application Gateway (FLAG) system and expects that employers can resume submitting the required Labor Condition Application (LCA) using the previous wages by December 9th. Please contact your ISSO Scholar Advisor if you have any questions.

Travel Advisory for International Scholars and Employees

The ISSO recently emailed BU’s international scholar and employee community regarding personal travel plans, particularly during BU’s scheduled Intersession break. Given the ongoing outbreak of COVID-19 around the world, international travel remains risky. It is important that any international travel be considered from the perspective of getting to the intended destination and the perspective of returning to the US.

Currently, several country specific bans and presidential proclamations continue to restrict travel to the US. In addition, individual countries are either enacting or extending their own travel bans without warning due to sustained COVID-19 transmission. Embassies and consulates are generally providing only limited services and individuals requiring a visa to return after intersession should expect delays. Lastly, BU has implemented comprehensive health and safety protocols related to travel that will need to be followed.

Please review the ISSO’s Fall 2020/Winter 2021 Travel Advisory and refer scholars or employees to this resource and remind them to connect with their ISSO Scholar Advisor if they are considering international travel.

ISSO Closed for BU Intersession

Please be reminded that the ISSO will be closed for BU’s Intersession break. New scholars and employees who plan to travel to the US during this time should connect the ISSO when we re-open on Monday January 4th. If you have any requests pending with the ISSO, please connect your ISSO Scholar Advisor to discuss related timelines for your request. While will not be processing routine requests during Intersession, urgent inquiries can be sent to the general ISSO e-mail at isso@bu.edu, as these messages will be reviewed periodically throughout this break.

Happy Holidays from the Scholar Services Team! We look forward to advising and assisting our international scholar community in 2021 and appreciate your continued support!