immigration updates: October 27, 2026

November BulletinThe Visa Bulletin separates permission to file green card paperwork from eligibility for approval. Chart A (Final Action Dates) shows when a green card can be approved; Chart B (Dates for Filing) allows applicants to begin the final application stage earlier. USCIS decides which chart applicants adjusting status may use each month, but approval always depends on Chart A. Your priority date—generally the petition’s filing date, or the labor-certification filing date where required—must be earlier than the applicable cutoff.

November permits Chart B for all categories. Regarding Final Action Dates, most employment-based categories remain unchanged, though EB-2 for most countries advanced three months (January 1 to April 1, 2025), EB-3 by one month (May 15 to June 15, 2024), and EB-3 India by about three weeks (January 1 to January 22, 2014). Most family-based categories, however, leapt forward by one year: F1 from January 22, 2020 to January 22, 2021; F2B from August 22, 2019 to August 22, 2020; F3 from October 22, 2014 to October 22, 2015; and F4 from October 22, 2011 to October 22, 2012 (except for India).

TPS reprieveDespite the expiration of the Temporary Protected Status protections for over 100,000 Ukrainians and 1,800 Sudanese on October 19th, the Department of Homeland Security announced, in the most vague terms possible, that those who held TPS will “retain protection” (see USCIS alerts here for Ukraine and here for Sudan). The DHS made a similar claim regarding the nearly 200,000 Salvadorans whose TPS program expired in September, with details still forthcoming. It remains understood that those affected may remain and work in the U.S.; employers should retain copies of the alerts for I-9 purposes.

DV lottery updateWe covered the return of the diversity visa lottery, and its related mechanics, last week. While the modified preliminary injunction requires an announcement by October 29 and a 30-day registration period opening by November 1, 2026, the entry portal and DOS newsroom have yet to be updated as of the time of writing.

enforcementICE detained two U.S. citizens at gunpoint in Charlotte, sent a U.S. citizen to the hospital in Long Beach, and allowed a permanent resident to die in a cell in Laredo. Meanwhile, a bill is finally introduced to facilitate lawsuits by U.S. citizens for unlawful detention.

28 permanent residents are charged with voting- and naturalization-related offenses. In practice, these instances typically involve individuals who were unwittingly registered while attempting to do something else entirely, and who never actually voted.

not a coincidenceElections are upcoming, and citizenship approvals fell 72 percent compared with the same eight-month period last year. Backlogs of pending applications have nearly doubled since the start of the Trump administration. The adolescents running DHS social media appear tickled.

Matthew Blaisdell, Esq.
Sunset Immigration PLLC
219 36th Street, Ste 511
Brooklyn, NY 11232
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