Business Immigration Insights

The State Department has published the November Visa Bulletin. Once again, it shows modest advances in priority dates, from 2 weeks to 5 months, though some categories remain unchanged from October. Moreover, USCIS has announced it will once again use the Dates for Filing chart in November, thereby allowing from 1.5 months to more than 2 years of additional filing time depending on nationality and category.

Just as Temporary Protected Status (TPS) was set to expire yesterday for Ukrainians and Sudanese nationals, DHS announced that while a formal decision on these programs will be announced in due course, for now, TPS protections and work authorization remain in effect. 

DHS finalized its 2025 interim rule that materially affects individuals applying to renew their employment authorization documents (EADs), as well as their employers. The final rule does not affect pending EAD applications received by USCIS before October 30, 2025, nor does it affect EADs that were automatically extended before that date.

Today, September 29, the State Department published the October Visa Bulletin, the first issue of Fiscal Year 2027. The release – just two days before the new fiscal year begins – is exceptionally late as compared to other monthly release dates during FY2026 and release dates of other October Bulletins in recent fiscal years.

On September 14, 2026, a federal court stayed the effectiveness of the new DHS rule that drastically changes how F and J visa holders are admitted into the United States. 

The State Department has published the September Visa Bulletin.

Effective today, August 3, 2026, the U.S. Department of State’s 12-month Visa Bond Pilot Program becomes permanent, as widely expected.  The list of nations subject to the requirement still stands at 50, but the final rule allows DOS to add countries with 15 days’ notice or remove countries with immediate effect.

The State Department has published the August Visa Bulletin. Priority dates for India freeze next month, while China and the rest of the world remain current or see modest gains in nearly all categories.

The Supreme Court upheld the 14th Amendment’s Birthright Citizenship Clause today in a 6-3 decision.

The State Department has published the July Visa Bulletin. As is typical near the end of the fiscal year, priority date advances are more modest and pauses and retrogression are more common.