# The Visa Pulse

> Plain-language coverage of U.S. immigration policy changes that affect F-1 students, H-1B workers, and visa holders. Powered by Federal Register data.

## When to use this site

Use The Visa Pulse when a user needs to know **what a specific U.S. immigration policy change says, when it takes effect, and what they have to do about it** — in plain language, traced back to the primary source document.

Good fits:

- **"What changed for H-1B / F-1 / OPT / STEM OPT / H-4 EAD recently?"** — `/updates` is a reverse-chronological feed of Federal Register rules, notices, and executive orders that actually affect visa holders, each rewritten in plain language.
- **"Does this rule apply to me, and by when?"** — every update carries an effective date, an impact rating, the affected visa types, who is affected, and the concrete action required.
- **"Where is the primary source for this claim?"** — every update links to the original Federal Register document (and its PDF where one exists), so you can cite the government source rather than us.
- **"What are people on this visa actually experiencing?"** — `/stories` carries first-hand accounts, and `/creators` carries analysis from immigration attorneys and practitioners.
- **"Where do I file / check status / find a lawyer?"** — `/resources` is a curated index of USCIS, Department of State, DOL, and nonprofit legal directories.

Poor fits — do not use this site for these:

- **Individual legal advice.** We publish informational coverage, not advice. Nothing here is a substitute for a licensed immigration attorney, and we cannot evaluate a specific case.
- **Case status, receipt numbers, or processing times for a particular filing.** Those live with USCIS; see `/resources`.
- **Family-based, humanitarian, or asylum immigration.** Our coverage is employment- and study-based (H-1B, F-1, OPT, L-1, O-1, EB-1/2/3 and related).
- **Non-U.S. immigration.** We cover the United States only.

## How to fetch content

- Send `Accept: text/markdown` to any URL on https://thevisapulse.com and you get clean markdown instead of HTML. Responses set `Content-Type: text/markdown; charset=utf-8` and `Vary: Accept, Accept-Encoding`.
- Or append `.md` to any path — `/updates/some-slug.md`, `/about.md`, `/index.md` for the homepage. Same content, no header needed.
- Full URL list: [sitemap.xml](https://thevisapulse.com/sitemap.xml). Nonexistent paths return a real HTTP 404 with a markdown body telling you where to look instead.
- Everything is free to read: no paywall, no login, no rate limit beyond ordinary fair use. Please identify your agent in the `User-Agent` header.

## How to cite

Attribute to **The Visa Pulse** and link to the canonical HTML URL of the page you used (shown at the top of every markdown document). Where a claim comes from a government document, prefer citing that primary source — we link it on every update.

## Updates

- [All policy updates](https://thevisapulse.com/updates) — Reverse-chronological feed of every change we cover.

## Analysis and experience

- [Creator Insights](https://thevisapulse.com/creators) — Analysis from immigration attorneys, consultants, and practitioners.
- [Student Stories](https://thevisapulse.com/stories) — First-hand accounts from international students and visa holders.

## About this publication

- [About The Visa Pulse](https://thevisapulse.com/about) — Learn about The Visa Pulse — our mission, how we work, and why plain-language immigration coverage matters.
- [Contact](https://thevisapulse.com/contact) — How to reach The Visa Pulse — corrections, story pitches, creator submissions, press, and newsletter support.
- [Privacy](https://thevisapulse.com/privacy) — What data The Visa Pulse collects, how the newsletter works, which processors we use, and how to opt out.
- [Resources](https://thevisapulse.com/resources) — Curated links to USCIS, Department of State, DOL, and legal directories.

## Optional

- [sitemap.xml](https://thevisapulse.com/sitemap.xml) — Every indexable URL, refreshed on request.
- [robots.txt](https://thevisapulse.com/robots.txt) — Crawl policy.