Good afternoon, friends and colleagues! I currently live in Minnesota, where our state VR agency serving the blind is considering some policy changes. One of them is a bit confusing to me, so I'm reaching out to ask if people here have any experience with this kind of policy change and if you have anything to share. I think I've been told that this policy change has been directly handed down to us from RSA, so, if that's the case, then I think people all over the country should be in the same boat. I just haven't heard any public discourse in NFB spaces about it and want to be informed before I do or say anything on this proposed policy change. The proposal is to add this requirement: "If a person is not a legal permanent resident or U.S. Citizen, they must provide evidence of work authorization (such as a nonimmigrant work visa or Employment Authorization Document) before eligibility can be determined. If no evidence can be provided, the case is closed from application without an eligibility determination." I wonder what kinds of ethical dilemmas this will cause for anyone holding a CRC or any certifications from the NBPCB or ACVREP. On the one hand, there may be people who come to the United States looking for VR services so that they can become confident and skilled enough to go out and get a work authorization. I think I've worked with students who had some kind of medical visa which allowed them to come to the US for healthcare, and then we gave them adjustment-to-blindness training, which helped them to go apply for a work visa. That wasn't in Minnesota, but it could be possible anywhere, I would suppose. Such a policy change would seem to eliminate that phenomenon from happening again. On another hand, there could be people here on other kinds of visas, like international students who are here on F-1 student visas, who might benefit from receiving some access technology instruction. On another hand, we could have people who are here on still other kinds of visas that do not allow them to work, who then become blind, who could benefit from VR services. These folks may apply for work visas, but do we want to make them wait until the work visa goes through before we can start serving them? It also occurs to me that other federal policy changes could be under consideration that might allow a person to get a work visa if they're coming here for VR services, but I doubt that. What do folks here know about these kinds of policy changes? Thanks in advance, Justin Justin MH Salisbury, MEd, NOMC, NCRTB English Pronouns: He/Him/His Email: President@Alumni.ECU.edu<mailto:President@Alumni.ECU.edu> ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Justin_Salisbury<https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Justin_Salisbury&source=gmail-imap&ust=1727538746000000&usg=AOvVaw3uZJqqJkT2wSVxJDa9dD7W> LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-salisbury<https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-salisbury&source=gmail-imap&ust=1727538746000000&usg=AOvVaw0XtyTG9WXXQ8TWe6UeU4Nz> ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-1786-2786 "Until the lion learns how to write, every story will glorify the hunter." Chinua Achebe