DHS Ends Automatic Extensions for Certain Work Permits DHS has finalized a rule ending automatic extensions of employment authorization for certain applicants who are renewing their work permits. Under the previous framework, eligible applicants could continue working while USCIS processed their renewal, sometimes for up to 540 days past the card's expiration date. That safety net is going away. The change means that immigrants facing long processing times could hit a gap whe

Microsoft, Adobe Among Eight Employers Suspended From the Green Card Program The Department of Labor has suspended Microsoft, Adobe, and six IT staffing firms from the PERM labor certification program. New applications from these companies are blocked, and pending cases are reportedly on hold. DOL cited federal investigations and concerns about companies hiring foreign workers while conducting layoffs of U.S. employees. No end date for the suspensions has been announced. The

In this episode of Immigration Nerds, Erickson Immigration Group's Lauren Clark talks with Ariel Rolls, an attorney at Grossman Young & Hammond whose practice includes asylum and Interpol Red Notice work. Ariel chairs AILA DC's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee and organizes the AILA DC Belonging Book Club. Once a month on a Sunday, immigration lawyers and paralegals in the DC area meet for lunch to talk about a book they've all read, at a restaurant chosen to match i

October Visa Bulletin Opens FY2027 With Retrogression for Most Countries The October Visa Bulletin launched fiscal year 2027 with a mixed bag. Several China employment-based categories moved forward, and India's previously unavailable EB-2 and EB-5 categories reopened. EB-4 advanced by more than two years. But the headline for most applicants is bad news: EB-2 and EB-3 final action dates for the rest of the world moved backward. The State Department attributed the retrogressi

Trump Orders New H-1B Scrutiny for Employers With Recent Layoffs President Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to factor an employer's recent and planned layoffs into H-1B case reviews. The policy reaches across the entire H-1B lifecycle: labor condition applications, petitions, visa applications, and admission at the border. Agencies must now consider whether a sponsoring employer directly or indirectly conducted layoffs within the past year, plans fut

On September 18, 2026, the Department of Homeland Security's revised public charge framework took effect. Green card applicants filing from that date forward face a wider review of their use of public benefits, and immigration officers have more room to weigh each applicant's circumstances as they see fit. The rule has prompted plenty of confusion, especially around which benefits count and who is affected. Below, we answer the questions we're hearing most often from employer

On September 18, President Trump signed an executive order that ties an employer's workforce reductions directly to its H-1B sponsorship. The same day, a separate proclamation extended the administration's $100,000 H-1B payment policy for another year, even though a federal court has that fee on hold. Neither move comes with detailed implementation guidance yet, but both deserve attention from any employer with a foreign national hiring pipeline. Layoffs Now Factor Into H-1B

Public Charge Rules Take Effect as States Sue to Stop Them September 18 is here, and the new public charge rules are live. Immigration officers now have broader discretion to consider a green card applicant's use of means-tested public benefits, including Medicaid, SNAP, CHIP, and housing assistance, as part of a case-by-case review. Using a benefit doesn't automatically trigger a denial, but it becomes a factor that officers can weigh alongside income, employment, health, an

Boundless restarted its Office Hours series with an open question session built entirely around what people actually ask. Host Lindsay Vadada collected questions at registration, ran a live queue during the session, and handed the floor to Deana Benjamin, an immigration attorney with more than twenty years in family and business matters who has worked with Boundless for over eight years. The format produces something a polished presentation rarely does. Real applicants asked

Judy Hinh Wong practices business immigration in the Bay Area for corporate clients that run from small startups up to mid-size technology companies. Her work covers employment-based nonimmigrant and immigrant filings, PERM, the H, L and O categories, and the talent mobility and risk management conversations underneath all of it. She is past chair of AILA NorCal and sits on the planning committee for this year's California Chapters Conference. On Episode 493 of the Immigratio

DHS Proposes Eliminating the 60-Day Grace Period for Laid-Off Workers The proposal we flagged last week is now public. DHS has officially proposed eliminating the 60-day grace period that allows employment-based visa holders to stay in the U.S. after losing their job. The rule would affect workers in E-1, E-2, E-3, H-1B, H-1B1, L-1, O-1, and TN status, along with their dependents. Under the proposal, when your employment ends, so does your authorized presence. No 60-day buffe

USCIS Can Now Pull Credit Reports on Green Card Sponsors Starting August 31, USCIS gained the authority to request consumer credit reports from anyone sponsoring a green card applicant under the latest Form I-864. The agency hasn't said what credit score (if any) it considers acceptable, and there's no public guidance on how debt levels, late payments, or bankruptcies will factor into sponsorship decisions. Sponsors with credit freezes may be asked to lift them temporarily to

OpenAI Pays $3.2 Million Over PERM Recruitment Failures The biggest name in AI just became the biggest cautionary tale in PERM compliance. The DOJ reached a $3.2 million settlement with OpenAI and its subsidiary Statsig after alleging their PERM recruitment practices discriminated against U.S. workers. The case involved fewer than 10 PERM positions. The penalties include civil fines, back pay, mandatory revisions to recruitment policies, a requirement to accept electronic app

A bipartisan bill introduced in the House on August 6 would let employers pay $1,200 to have the Department of Labor process Form ETA-9089 within 30 calendar days. The current average for Analyst Review determinations is 372 days. That comparison is doing a lot of work in the coverage so far. Twelve months down to one month is a headline. But the ETA-9089 review is the back half of a PERM case, and it is the half neither the employer nor counsel controls. The front half, the

OpenAI Settles PERM Discrimination Case for $3.2 Million The DOJ just made an example out of the most talked-about company in tech. OpenAI and its subsidiary Statsig agreed to a $3.2 million settlement over allegations that their PERM recruitment practices discriminated against U.S. workers. The case involved fewer than 10 PERM positions. Read that again. Fewer than 10 positions, and the result was civil penalties, back pay, revised recruitment policies, a requirement to acce

State Department Has Revoked More Than 175,000 Visas Under Trump Since January 2025, the State Department has revoked more than 175,000 visas. Most revocations followed law enforcement encounters, with assault, DUI, theft, and drug offenses cited as leading causes. The department also revoked visas tied to fraud, national security concerns, and social media comments celebrating the 2025 assassination of Charlie Kirk. Immigration attorneys have raised concerns about the thresh

For nearly 50 years, three words have governed how international students stay in the United States: duration of status. Under this framework, an F-1 student was admitted for as long as they were making progress in their program. A PhD candidate could take a sixth year to finish a dissertation. A surgical resident could move into a fellowship. A community college student could transfer to a four-year university. The person making those calls was the international student advi

There is no regulatory text. There is no comment period. There is no proposed rule to read. And yet the single most consequential item on the PERM calendar right now is a line on the Department of Labor's regulatory agenda: RIN 1205-AC29, Modernizing the Labor Market Test and Improving Protections for U.S. Workers in the PERM Immigrant Visa Program. The labor market test is the recruitment. The recruitment is the advertising. Whatever DOL ultimately publishes, the rule is aim

USCIS Can Now Deny Incomplete Applications Without an RFE This is the one that should keep every immigration filer up at night. As of August 5, USCIS officers can deny applications and petitions outright if required initial evidence is missing or eligibility isn't established. No Request for Evidence. No Notice of Intent to Deny. No chance to fix it. Just a denial, a lost filing fee, and months of wasted time. The agency also clarified that when RFEs are issued, officers may

USCIS changed the rules of filing this morning. Effective August 5, 2026, officers have full discretion to deny a benefit request outright when the filing fails to establish eligibility or omits required initial evidence. No Request for Evidence. No Notice of Intent to Deny. The agency's position is that eligibility must be demonstrated at the moment of filing, and that its form instructions already specify what that takes. That is not a new idea. It was the standard from 201