What changed

Things that are true today and may not be next month. Most days this page is empty, and that is the point — if something is here, it is because somebody would do something differently because of it.

• In force now

  Confirmed

  The $100,000 H-1B payment was extended to 2027, while a court ruling against it still stands

  What has not changed

  The court ruling against the payment has not been lifted. On 8 June 2026 the District of Massachusetts vacated the guidance implementing the 2025 payment in California et al. v. Mullin, and on 24 July 2026 the First Circuit denied the Government's request to pause that ruling while it appeals. The appeal is still being briefed. No court has yet ruled on the new proclamation itself. The proclamation still reaches only petitions for people outside the US, not extensions, transfers or changes of status filed inside it.

  Read the full alertAs of September 27, 2026

• In force now

  Confirmed

  No court has blocked USCIS's May 2026 memo on adjusting status

  What has not changed

  The law on who may apply to adjust status is unchanged, and so are the forms and fees. The memo describes itself as reaffirming a "consistent and longstanding approach". Filing an I-485 inside the US is still the route the statute provides.

  Read the full alertAs of September 27, 2026

• In force now

  Confirmed

  A court has blocked the duration-of-status rule, and D/S still applies

  In force since September 14, 2026

  This date is being challenged in court and could move.

  What has not changed

  The rule still exists. The court postponed it; it did not strike it down, and it said so plainly — the plaintiffs also asked for the rule to be vacated, and that part of their motion was “DENIED without prejudice to its renewal”. The government may appeal, and the case continues. Nothing about your own status changed on 15 September, and nothing changed on the 14th either: your current I-20, your I-94 and your programme end date are exactly what they were, and nobody has had a stay shortened or extended by any of this. The rule never touched H-1B, H-4, L-1 or a pending green card, and the order does not change the eligibility rules for CPT, OPT or STEM OPT, the 180-day automatic extension for a timely STEM OPT filing, or H-1B cap-gap. This is not a new benefit and not an amnesty. It is the arrangement that has been in place since 1978 carrying on unchanged.

  Read the full alertAs of September 16, 2026

• Proposed — not in force

  Confirmed

  DHS has proposed ending the 60-day grace period, and the 60 days still apply today

  What has not changed

  The 60-day grace period is unchanged and still in force. It was created by the 2016 final rule "Retention of EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3 Immigrant Workers and Program Improvements Affecting High-Skilled Nonimmigrant Workers" (81 FR 82398), effective 17 January 2017, and it remains the rule because nothing has replaced it. A worker in E-1, E-2, E-3, H-1B, H-1B1, L-1, O-1 or TN status whose employment ends today is still not considered to have failed to maintain status solely on that basis, for up to 60 consecutive days. A proposed rule is a statement of intent and not law: it changes no status, ends no grace period, and starts no deadline. There is no final rule, no effective date and no court ruling on any of this. Until a final rule is published and takes effect, the 60 days apply.

  Read the full alertAs of September 10, 2026

• Proposed — not in force

  Multiple reports

  Cognizant and Cloudera PERM filings are suspended, says the Labor IG — a suspension cancels nothing already approved

  What has not changed

  A suspension stops processing. It is not a revocation, and it is not a debarment. A labour certification you already hold stays valid. The USCIS Policy Manual states that "Permanent labor certifications remain valid unless and until they are revoked", and revocation is a separate process: under 20 CFR 656.32(b)(1) it requires a Notice of Intent to Revoke setting out the grounds in detail and 30 days to reply. A pending application is frozen, not denied. Under 20 CFR 656.31(b)(2) a suspension lasts initially for up to 180 days and can be extended, and under 656.31(d), where no finding of fraud follows, the Certifying Officer decides each pending application "on the merits of the application". Even after an adverse finding the regulation is case-by-case rather than a blanket refusal. Neither company is on any published debarment list. The Office of Foreign Labor Certification's PERM debarment list contains two entries, both dated 29 May 2025, and neither is Cognizant or Cloudera. This is about two employers. It changes nothing about the PERM programme, nothing about H-1B status, nothing about anybody's ability to work, and nothing about any other employer's filings. One thing we cannot tell you, and will not guess: no public source says what happens to an approved I-140, or to a priority date retained under it, if the labour certification beneath it is later invalidated. What is clear is that a suspension of processing reaches neither, because it acts only on applications that have not been decided.

  Read the full alertAs of September 8, 2026

• In force now

  Confirmed

  A court has blocked the 2026 citizenship order for children of parents here on temporary status

  What has not changed

  The Fourteenth Amendment has not changed, and neither has the Supreme Court's answer to this question. The court's opinion records that in Trump v. Barbara the Supreme Court held that children born of parents "unlawfully or temporarily present in the United States" are "citizens at birth" under the Constitution, and that the decision "effectively invalidated the 2025 Executive Order as unconstitutional". Nothing about your own status changes because of any of this: an executive order about citizenship at birth does not touch an H-1B, an H-4, an F-1, an L-1, a pending green card or a filing you already have in. No agency has announced that it is refusing to recognise the citizenship of a child born here. A passport application for a US-born child is the same application it was, with the same birth certificate. And the separate DHS rule published this month about children born to foreign government employees is a different thing entirely — it concerns families of foreign government staff, not people working here on a visa.

  Read the full alertAs of September 5, 2026

• Takes effect September 18, 2026

  Confirmed

  Form I-485 changes edition on 18 September, with no grace period

  In force since September 18, 2026

  This date is set.

  What has not changed

  Nothing about who is eligible to adjust status, and nothing about priority dates, the visa bulletin or where a filing goes. The edition change is about which sheet of paper is accepted, not about who may file or what they must prove to qualify. Your existing pending I-485 is unaffected: this applies to filings postmarked or submitted on or after 18 September, not to applications already with USCIS, and you do not need to refile anything. Forms I-539 and I-765 change edition on 15 September and are a separate change, described in their own alert. Filing fees are not changed by this announcement.

  Read the full alertAs of September 5, 2026

• In force now

  Confirmed

  USCIS can interview your neighbours and employer about a pending citizenship application

  What has not changed

  The requirements for citizenship are unchanged. Nothing here alters the residence and physical-presence periods, the good moral character period, the English and civics tests, or the fee. Your pending application has not been paused, restarted or put to the back of a queue by this, and there is no new deadline attached to it. This is about how USCIS may investigate an application it already has, not about who qualifies. It concerns naturalisation only: it does not touch a green card application, an extension of status, or work authorisation. USCIS retains the discretion to waive the investigation in an individual case, and the character reference letters above are explicitly voluntary — not providing them is not a ground to refuse anybody.

  Read the full alertAs of September 5, 2026

• Proposed — not in force

  Confirmed

  Ending H-4 EAD is on the DHS agenda, with no date

  What has not changed

  The regulation in force is unchanged. The 2015 final rule, "Employment Authorization for Certain H-4 Dependent Spouses" (80 FR 10284), is still the rule, because nothing has replaced it. An entry in the Unified Agenda is a statement of intent and not law: it changes no eligibility, cancels no pending application, and shortens no card that has already been issued. There is no proposed rule, no comment period, no final rule and no effective date, and no court has been asked to rule on any of this. Reddit and Facebook posts saying H-4 work permits have ended are describing this agenda entry, and the entry does not say that.

  Read the full alertAs of August 29, 2026

• Proposed — not in force

  Confirmed

  A $103,265 fee is proposed for cap-subject H-1B petitions

  What has not changed

  Nothing is payable today and nothing about filing changes. Current H-1B fees are unchanged. The proposal reaches only cap-subject petitions, so cap-exempt employers — universities, affiliated non-profits, and non-profit or government research organisations — are outside it, as are extensions, transfers and amendments that are not cap-subject. No start date exists for any fee, because there is no final rule. The rule also records that the earlier proclamation payment was itself vacated on 8 June 2026 by the District of Massachusetts in California et al. v. Mullin, and that the Government appealed on 11 June 2026.

  Read the full alertAs of August 24, 2026

• In force now

  Confirmed

  USCIS can deny a filing without asking for evidence first

  In force since August 5, 2026

  This date is set.

  What has not changed

  Nothing about a case that is already approved, and no eligibility rule for any benefit. RFEs and notices of intent to deny still exist and officers still send them — the update removes the expectation, not the tool. The maximum response windows are unchanged at up to 12 weeks for an RFE and 30 days for a notice of intent to deny, asylum and refugee filings keep their own handling, and you keep every existing route to appeal or file a motion after a denial. This is not a fee change, not a new form, and not a change to any processing time.

  Read the full alertAs of August 5, 2026

• Scam warning

  Confirmed

  People are posing as USCIS officials. USCIS never asks for fees by phone or email

  What has not changed

  USCIS will never ask you to transfer money to an individual, and does not accept Western Union, MoneyGram, PayPal, Venmo or gift cards as payment for immigration fees.

  Read the full alertAs of August 4, 2026

• Scam warning

  Confirmed

  A job offer that asks you to pay first may be a scam, USCIS warns

  What has not changed

  USCIS says you are not allowed to work in the United States unless you have a Green Card, an EAD, or an employment-related visa that allows you to work for a particular employer.

  Read the full alertAs of August 4, 2026