immigration updates: September 1, 2026

What’s another $103,265 for an application?

Blocked from being able to collect $100,000 for H-1B beneficiaries overseas, the Department of Homeland Security is now trying to impose the fee instead on the vast majority of new H-1B petitions at the time of filing.

The notice of proposed rulemakingimposes a $103,265 fee on every cap-subject petition, including those eligible for the advanced-degree exemption. These are the petitions that count towards the annual limit: 65,000 for workers with at least the equivalent of a US bachelor’s degree, plus 20,000 for those with a qualifying US master’s degree or higher. They generally must first pass through the H-1B lottery.

The proposal would not apply to cap-exempt petitions. These do not count towards the annual limit, usually because the employer is a university or qualifying research organization, or because the worker has already been counted against the cap.

he earlier $100,000 payment was imposed by presidential proclamation. This time DHS is using notice-and-comment rulemaking, under which a federal agency publishes a proposed regulation and allows the public to respond before issuing a final rule. DHS claims it is needed to fund the government’s administration of the immigration laws through various Departments.

The fee must be paid at the time of filing, included with all other USCIS government filing fees H-1B fees, already between $460 (for a qualifying nonprofit organization filing a cap-exempt or extension petition without premium processing) and $10,345 (for a large, H-1B-dependent corporation filing a first-time, cap-subject petition utilizing premium processing). (And then, of course, there’s paying the lawyers.) More here.

Public comments are due by September 24. DHS must then review them before publishing any final rule. Litigation will follow. The rule will be scaled back. Tantrums will ensue. Time is a flat circle.

**Embassies start again. And stop again. And start again. **

Last week we covered a federal-court ruling ending the State Department’s ban on issuing immigrant visas to nationals of 75 countries deemed at “high risk” of relying on public benefits.

On Friday, DOS announced that the pause was no longer in effect. While under the ban applicants had previously been able to schedule and attend their appointments, DOS would not issue their green cards. Thus, those who departed the U.S. to attend their interview risked being stranded indefinitely.

Then, right after announcing the end of the pause, DOS suddenly cancelled all interviews at all embassies, asserting that they needed time to implement the new public charge policies we also covered last week. Though as of this week it seems that certain embassies are reaching out to reschedule individuals who had been waiting.

Outstanding questions include: how long the pause will last; how long applicants may have to wait for decisions after their interviews; what additional evidence they may be asked to provide; and what standards they will have to meet before their visas are issued.

faster for families, slower for employers

The September visa bulletin shows shorter waits in several family-sponsored categories for applicants outside Mexico and the Philippines. The largest advance is in F-3, for married sons and daughters of US citizens. Employment-based categories, however, did not advance at all.

Why the discrepancy? The State Department says that the administration’s restrictions—including the 75-country pause discussed above—have reduced immigrant-visa issuance. That has left more numbers available for applicants from other countries, allowing filing and final-action dates to advance.

Immigrant visa issuance rates for aliens from certain countries have decreased in light of various actions the administration has taken . . . Consequently . . . dates for filing and final action dates have been advanced across various immigrant visa categories throughout recent months. Note that as additional immigrant visa demand materializes, or administration actions are amended, retrogression may be necessary in the upcoming months to keep issuances within annual limits.

DOS also warns that EB-1 India and EB-2 worldwide could become unavailable or fall backwards before the end of the fiscal year (and the reset of visa availability) on September 30th).

be kind to your neighbors

All pending and newly-filed applications for naturalization may be subject to neighborhood investigations, per an update to the USCIS Policy Manual. USCIS may (but is not required to) investigate “the vicinity of an alien’s place of residence and employment and include at least the 5-year period prior to the filing of the alien’s naturalization application” (more here).

Enforcement

200,000 tourist visas are about to be revoked, targeting asylum-seekers, and Mexico pushes for investigations in to the deaths of 17 migrants in ICE custody.

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