Posts

Aug 27, 2026 • Policy Updates • 3 min read

USCIS Reinstates Neighborhood Investigations for Citizenship Applicants - Effective Immediately, Including Pending Cases

USCIS Policy Alert PA-2026-10, issued August 25, ends the blanket waiver of neighborhood investigations for naturalization applicants and authorizes officers to question neighbors, employers and co-workers.

USCIS Citizenship Naturalization N-400

Aug 26, 2026 • Immigration News • 3 min read

DHS Moves to Narrow H-1B Cap Exemptions - and Universities and Nonprofit Labs Are Directly in the Path

A DHS proposed rule sent to the White House on August 24 would revise which employers qualify as H-1B cap-exempt - the exemption that lets universities and nonprofit research organizations hire outside the lottery.

H-1B USCIS Policy Updates NIW

Aug 26, 2026 • Policy Updates • 3 min read

DHS Revives Its H-1B Third-Party Placement Crackdown - This Time as a Regulation, Not a Memo

A DHS proposed rule under White House review would increase oversight of H-1B third-party placements, six years after courts forced the agency to rescind its 2018 itinerary memo and vacated its 2020 rule.

H-1B USCIS Policy Updates

Aug 26, 2026 • Policy Updates • 3 min read

What the H-1B Reform Rule Filing Already Tells Us: Economically Significant, Nine Months Late, and Exempt From the Deregulation Order

The text of the new DHS H-1B reform rule is not public, but its OMB filing and Unified Agenda entry reveal its scale, its slipped timetable, and the earliest cap season it could realistically govern.

H-1B USCIS Policy Updates Processing Times

Aug 24, 2026 • Immigration News • 3 min read

Appeals Court Lets USCIS Reopen Already-Approved Cases for Travel-Ban Nationals - But Keeps the Adjudication Freeze Dead

The First Circuit on August 14 refused to revive the USCIS benefits hold and nationality-as-negative-factor policies, but allowed the agency to resume re-reviewing approvals granted on or after January 20, 2021.

USCIS Policy Updates Travel Ban

Aug 24, 2026 • Immigration News • 3 min read

Colleges and Unions Sue to Block the Four-Year Cap on F-1 and J-1 Status Weeks Before It Takes Effect

A coalition of universities, educator groups and labor unions filed suit August 18 in federal court in Massachusetts seeking to stop the DHS rule that ends duration of status for international students on September 15.

F-1 J-1 DHS Policy Updates

Aug 24, 2026 • Policy Updates • 3 min read

DHS Proposes a $103,265 Fee on Every Cap-Subject H-1B Petition - Comments Close 30 Days After Aug. 25

DHS filed a proposed rule on Aug. 24 that would add a $103,265 fee to every H-1B cap-subject petition, on top of all existing fees. Comments are due 30 days after the Aug. 25 publication date.

H-1B USCIS Policy Updates

Aug 24, 2026 • Policy Updates • 3 min read

Half of H-1B Cap Filers Are Small Businesses - DHS Says 11,051 of Them Would Take a Significant Hit

DHS data shows 51 percent of FY2025 cap-subject H-1B petitioners were small entities, and the agency concedes its own proposed $103,265 fee would significantly affect 11,051 of them.

H-1B USCIS Policy Updates

Aug 24, 2026 • Policy Updates • 3 min read

Only a Third of the New H-1B Fee Would Go to USCIS - The Rest Funds Immigration Courts, ICE Vetting and DOL

DHS would send 33.7 percent of the proposed H-1B fee to the immigration courts to fund about 8,400 new positions, plus $1.05 billion to ICE and $1.21 billion to the Labor Department. USCIS keeps 34.2 percent.

H-1B USCIS Policy Updates

Aug 24, 2026 • Immigration News • 3 min read

Somalia TPS Work Permits Went Invalid August 14 - While Sudan and Ukraine EADs Got Extended to October 19

USCIS terminated Somalia TPS effective August 14, 2026 and voided its A12 and C19 work permits, while automatically extending expired Sudan and Ukraine TPS-based EADs through October 19, 2026.

TPS USCIS Work Permits