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 aimed squarely at the part of the process employers have historically treated as clerical; the ads, the placements, the documentation, the file. Stuart Anderson covered the agenda item for Forbes this week, and his framing is worth sitting with: the labor certification process that everyone treats as immutable law is, in significant part, a regulatory construct. The advertising requirement was never in the statute The Immigration and Nationality Act asks the Secretary of Labor to certify two things before most employment-based immigrants can proceed: that able, willing, qualified, and available U.S. workers are not present at the time and place of the job, and that the foreign national's employment will not adversely affect wages and working conditions for similarly employed U.S. workers. That's the mandate. Two findings. Nowhere does the statute instruct employers to run Sunday newspaper advertisements, place job orders with state workforce agencies, post internal notices for ten business days, or run three additional recruitment steps for professional positions. That architecture came later, from DOL itself. Immigration attorney and former immigration judge Gary Endelman traced the history and found no individualized recruitment requirement in either the proposed or final 1965 implementing regulations — availability was assessed statistically, through Schedules A and B, not through employer-by-employer market testing. Senator Edward Kennedy, a chief sponsor of the 1965 Act, said on the record that the intent was not to subject every intending immigrant to a detailed and disruptive employment analysis, and that the Secretary's job was to raise the quality of immigration, not to reduce it below what Congress authorized. I raise this not to argue that PERM recruitment is illegitimate. It is the law as practiced, and it governs every case our clients file. I raise it because it explains what happens next. If the labor market test is a creature of regulation rather than statute, DOL has wide latitude to rebuild it. In either direction. "Modernize" is not a synonym for "simplify." What the agenda actually signals DOL's summary describes four areas of intent: improving the minimum standards for recruiting qualified U.S. workers, strengthening safeguards for U.S. workers affected by layoffs, enhancing compliance with requirements around non-discriminatory recruitment and hiring, and tightening record retention. Krystal Alanis of Reddy Neumann Brown, quoted in the Forbes piece, reads those signals about the way we do. She expects the print newspaper requirement to give way to online platforms, expects a sharper focus on whether PERM recruitment is genuinely non-discriminatory, and expects layoff-related notification and consideration obligations to expand. Her practical prediction is the one to underline: broader audits, with DOL asking employers to prove that their PERM recruitment mirrors how they actually hire, which channels they use, how applicants are told to apply. Three of those four buckets are advertising and documentation. The fourth is a documentation problem wearing a workforce-planning hat. The enforcement pattern is already visible You don't need the rule to see where this is going. Look at what the Justice Department has been doing on its own authority. The IER complaints against Facebook, Apple, and Cloudera all turned on the same underlying theory: that PERM recruitment was structured to fail. This August, DOJ's Civil Rights Division settled with OpenAI, and its press release identified the defect plainly, PERM positions weren't posted on the company's external careers site, even though posting there was standard practice for other roles. That is not a technical violation of a recruitment step. Every required step may well have been completed. The problem was the gap between the PERM recruitment and the real recruitment. Call it the parity standard. It has been emerging through enforcement for years, and RIN 1205-AC29 looks like the attempt to write it into the regulation itself. If your company posts every other opening on LinkedIn, your careers page, and two industry boards, and your PERM opening gets a newspaper ad and a job order, you have created the record that a DOJ or DOL reviewer will read as intent. The timing math nobody does Here is the part that should change what employers do this quarter rather than next year. DOL currently reports roughly 403 days as the average processing time for PERM applications at analyst review, and about 290 days for audit review. Prevailing wage determinations are running near three months. Recruitment itself requires a 60-day minimum window before filing. Add it up and a case starting today is realistically adjudicated in late 2027 or 2028. Rulemaking runs on a similar clock; NPRM, comments, final rule, effective date. The companion prevailing wage rulemaking (RIN 1205-AC30) published its NPRM in March and is still working through the process. The two timelines overlap. The recruitment files you build under today's rules will be audited by an agency operating under tomorrow's expectations, by reviewers whose enforcement instincts have already shifted. Compliance with the minimum is not the same as defensibility. What this means practically Stop treating the PERM ad buy as a procurement task. It is evidence creation. Every placement, every screenshot, every tearsheet, every application instruction is a document that a reviewer will read years from now with a specific question in mind: did this employer actually try? Audit your parity now. Pull your last ten PERM recruitment files and put them next to the recruitment files for ten comparable non-PERM roles at the same company. If the channels don't match, the application instructions don't match, or the job requirements are written differently, you already have the problem the rule is being written to catch. Fix the retention gaps before they're mandatory. Record retention is one of the four stated targets. Files that were adequate in 2019 are not adequate as a compliance posture in 2026. And if the print requirement does fall away, resist the temptation to read that as relief. Removing a newspaper ad and replacing it with a standard of good-faith recruitment that reflects real hiring practice is not a lighter burden. It is a vaguer one, adjudicated after the fact, which is harder, not easier. Atlas builds and documents PERM recruitment for immigration law firms and employers. We've been tracking this rulemaking since it hit the agenda, and we'll be reading the NPRM the day it publishes. Until then, we're happy to talk through what any of this means for how you're running recruitment today.

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 now set shorter response deadlines. The safety net that used to catch incomplete filings has been pulled away. The PERM Takeaway: This policy change lands directly on the I-140 petition stage of the PERM process. After months of recruitment advertising, prevailing wage determinations, and labor certification approval, the last thing any employer needs is a denied I-140 because a supporting document was missing from the package. There is no longer a backstop. Every filing that touches USCIS needs to be treated as a one-shot opportunity. Employers and their counsel should implement pre-submission checklists, peer reviews on every petition, and a zero-tolerance policy for incomplete packages. Your PERM ad agency should be double-checking that every recruitment report, every ad tearsheet, and every piece of supporting documentation is accounted for before anything goes out the door. The cost of a missing exhibit just went from "a few weeks of delay" to "start over from scratch." USCIS Backlog Hits Record 11.3 Million Cases The numbers are staggering. USCIS is now sitting on 11.3 million pending applications and petitions, a new record. Processing times have nearly doubled to an average backlog clearance time of 18.6 months. And denial rates have climbed across several categories, including EB-1 extraordinary ability and EB-2 National Interest Waiver petitions. The first quarter of fiscal year 2026 showed a system that is slowing down, getting more restrictive, and falling further behind all at the same time. The PERM Takeaway: An 18.6-month average clearance time means your PERM-sponsored employee could wait a year and a half just for USCIS to get to their I-140 or adjustment of status application, and that's after the months it took to complete the labor certification. Employers need to build these extended timelines into every workforce plan. If you're starting a PERM case today, don't expect your employee to have a green card for years. That means H-1B extensions, ongoing compliance monitoring, and retention strategies that account for employees living in limbo. The rising denial rates in EB-1 and EB-2 NIW are equally concerning: if you're considering those categories as alternatives to PERM, know that the bar is climbing there too. There is no easy lane right now. The only advantage is starting early. Public Charge Rule Changes Take Effect September 18 The countdown is on. In six weeks, USCIS will begin applying a broader public charge standard to certain green card applications. Officers will be able to consider an applicant's use of Medicaid, SNAP, housing assistance, and other means-tested benefits as part of a case-by-case review. The rule applies to benefits received on or after September 18 and generally affects I-485 applications filed on or after that date. For applicants who are currently using any of these programs, the next six weeks are a critical planning window. The PERM Takeaway: September 18 needs to be circled on every PERM employer's calendar. If you have sponsored employees preparing to file for adjustment of status, the public charge assessment is now part of the equation. Employers who provide strong benefits packages, competitive salaries, and documented financial stability for their workers are at an advantage. Those factors weigh positively in the public charge analysis. Employers should be coordinating with counsel to ensure every I-485 filing submitted after September 18 includes robust evidence of the employee's financial self-sufficiency, employer-sponsored health coverage, and income stability. The stronger the employer's support on paper, the smoother the public charge review. State Department Proposes Updates to J-1 Exchange Visitor Rules The State Department has proposed changes to the J-1 Exchange Visitor Program that would tighten how participant status is managed. The proposal clarifies when sponsors must terminate a participant's program, gives the department limited authority to terminate programs directly, and adds formal definitions for "unauthorized employment" and "valid program status." It also streamlines extension and reinstatement procedures and removes a separate extension provision for au pairs. Public comments are due by September 28. The PERM Takeaway: J-1 holders are part of the broader foreign talent ecosystem, and changes to their program affect the pipeline that feeds into H-1B sponsorship and eventually PERM. Tighter termination rules and new unauthorized employment definitions mean J-1 workers face a narrower margin for compliance errors. For employers who hire J-1 participants or recruit from exchange visitor programs, these proposed rules add administrative complexity and increase the risk that a worker's status could be terminated before they transition to an employer-sponsored visa. If you rely on J-1 talent, submit comments by September 28 and start planning for a program with less flexibility and more oversight. USCIS Changes Asylum Referral Process DHS issued an interim final rule allowing USCIS to refer certain affirmative asylum applications to immigration court without conducting an interview first. The agency says interviews will still happen before asylum is granted or denied, but some cases may now be fast-tracked to court based on the written record alone. The rule also drops the requirement that referral letters include a credibility assessment. The changes took effect July 28, with public comments due September 28. The PERM Takeaway: This doesn't touch PERM directly, but it adds to the overall picture of a system that is moving faster on enforcement and slower on benefits. When USCIS shifts asylum resources toward faster referrals, it can free up adjudicator capacity for other case types, or it can signal that the agency is prioritizing throughput over thoroughness across the board. For PERM employers, the broader lesson is consistent with everything else this week: the adjudication environment is getting tougher, faster, and less forgiving. File complete applications. Anticipate scrutiny. Leave nothing to chance. Stay sharp, stay compliant, and we'll see you next week.

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 2018 until June 2021, when USCIS reversed course and told officers to ask before denying wherever additional evidence might establish eligibility. Today's update swings the pendulum back. What matters is not the pendulum. It is the timing. The pending-cases problem The policy applies to requests pending or filed on or after August 5. Effective immediately, with no transition window. Read that twice if you have a queue. Petitions assembled months ago, under guidance that assumed a request for evidence would arrive if something was missing, are now in front of officers operating under different instructions. The filing standard changed after the filings were built. Nobody is going to write and tell you which of those files has a gap. That was the function of the notice that just went away. What the RFE actually was In practice, not in regulation, the RFE had become an informal second draft. A missing exhibit meant a letter, not a loss. Practitioners built workflows around that cushion, often without ever deciding to. It also created a strategic gray zone. Filing early with a serviceable record and refining under an RFE was, for many case types, a rational play. It preserved priority dates. It started clocks. USCIS has now named that behavior directly, describing placeholder filings as a way to capture downstream benefits while a decision waits, and the new guidance is aimed at ending it. You can dispute that characterization and still face the same operational fact: the cushion is gone, and the filing is the argument. Note the agency's answer to the obvious objection. If officers can deny without asking, what counts as complete? USCIS points to its own form instructions as the definitive list of required initial evidence. Every practice has a house checklist that has drifted a version or two from the published one, in small ways that never mattered because an RFE would surface them. Those small ways matter now. Where this lands for employment-based practice Nothing about PERM audit procedure changed today. This is a USCIS action, and labor certification is a Department of Labor process. But an I-140 does not stand alone. It rests on a certified labor certification, which rests on a recruitment record: the placements, the tearsheets, the job order, the notice of filing, the proof that each step ran when and where it should have. That record is the most outsourced and least directly controlled part of the employment-based file. It is assembled by vendors and publishers on the employer's behalf, and it is often reconstructed after the fact rather than captured at the time. Reconstruction was survivable when a request for evidence would tell you what was missing and give you weeks to find it. It is a different proposition when the first sign of a problem is a denial. The exposure is concrete: a tearsheet nobody kept because the publisher said they had it, a job order with a confirmation email but no proof of run dates, a placement with an invoice but no documentation of publication. Each of those generated a letter last week. What to do this week Pull the pending queue first, not the new filings. Those cases are exposed to a standard they were not built for, and the window to act on them is already closing. Then reconcile your intake checklists against the current published form instructions rather than your firm's internalized version of them. Dull work, and the highest-yield hour anyone in your office spends this month. Then look at where your evidence comes from. For any documentation you do not generate yourself, the question is no longer whether you can eventually obtain it. It is whether you hold it, verified, before the filing goes out. Provenance you cannot produce on demand is provenance you do not have. The caveats Discretion remains discretion. Officers can still issue an RFE where they think one is warranted, and many will. This is a change in default posture, not a prohibition. Expect litigation. The 2018 version drew injunctions, and the practitioner bar has a well-developed argument that denying without notice turns curable defects into permanent ones. Some part of this guidance may not survive a federal court. Filing as though that has already happened is a different matter entirely. And do not over-correct into paralysis. Priority dates still matter. The answer is not to file later. It is to file complete. The record is the argument Strip away the politics of the announcement and one operating principle is left standing: the government is no longer obligated to help you finish your case. Most practices already knew this was the right way to work, and tolerated a gap between the standard they aspired to and the standard the process actually enforced. That gap closed this morning. Build the record as though nobody is coming to ask for the missing piece. As of today, that is not a best practice. It is the policy.

Trump Administration Considers $100,000 OPT Fee If $100,000 for an H-1B petition wasn't enough, the administration is now floating the same price tag for Optional Practical Training. OPT, the program that allows international students to work in the U.S. after graduation, could become prohibitively expensive if the proposal moves forward. Nothing has been formally announced yet, and the idea is still under discussion, but the signal alone is enough to rattle the pipeline. A six-figure fee for post-graduation work authorization would fundamentally change the calculus for international students choosing where to study and for employers who recruit from American universities. The PERM Takeaway: OPT is where the PERM pipeline begins for thousands of employers. It's the bridge between graduation and H-1B sponsorship, and for many workers, it's their first step toward labor certification and a green card. If OPT becomes a $100,000 proposition, fewer students will use it. Fewer will stay in the U.S. after graduation. And the talent pool that employers draw from for PERM sponsorship will shrink dramatically. Even as a proposal, this should trigger workforce planning conversations at every company that recruits international graduates. If your future PERM candidates can't afford to start working in the U.S. in the first place, the rest of the sponsorship pathway becomes irrelevant. Employers who want to protect their pipeline should be identifying high-value candidates earlier and exploring whether sponsorship commitments can be made before graduation, not after OPT pricing prices them out. Court Keeps $100,000 H-1B Fee on Hold The First Circuit denied the government's request to temporarily reinstate the $100,000 H-1B filing fee while the appeal moves forward, keeping the fee blocked for now. The ruling leaves a lower court decision in place that struck down the fee, which would have applied to certain H-1B petitions involving workers outside the United States. The litigation isn't over. The government can continue its appeal or seek emergency relief from the Supreme Court. But for the moment, employers filing H-1B petitions are not required to pay the six-figure surcharge. The PERM Takeaway: Good news, but temporary good news. The $100,000 fee is blocked today, not dead. Employers should take advantage of the current cost structure while it lasts, but plan as though the fee could return at any time. For companies weighing whether to file H-1B petitions or accelerate PERM cases instead, the math still favors long-term thinking. A green card through PERM eliminates the need for future H-1B renewals entirely, and if the $100,000 fee is eventually reinstated, every renewal becomes a six-figure expense. The cost case for PERM sponsorship as a permanent solution has never been stronger, even with the fee temporarily off the table. Universities Tell International Students: Get Back Before September 15 Universities across the country are urging international students to return to the U.S. before September 15, when the new DHS rule replacing "duration of status" with a four-year fixed admission period takes effect. Students who arrive before the deadline may avoid some of the uncertainty that comes with being processed under the new system. Those who need more than four years to complete their programs will need to apply for extensions through USCIS before their authorized stay expires. Schools are treating September 15 as a hard line and advising students to plan accordingly. The PERM Takeaway: September 15 is six weeks away, and the ripple effects will be felt in hiring pipelines for years. Employers who recruit from university programs should be coordinating with campus career offices and international student advisors now, not next semester. Students who don't make it back before the cutoff, or who get tangled in extension paperwork mid-program, may become harder to hire on OPT and ultimately harder to sponsor through PERM. The employers who maintain strong university relationships and early engagement with potential hires will be the ones who still have access to this talent pool once the new rules take hold. Everyone else will be scrambling. State Department Launches Pay-to-Play Visa Interview Pilot in Mexico The State Department rolled out a pilot program allowing some B-1/B-2 visitor visa applicants in Mexico to pay an extra $750 for an expedited interview appointment within 10 business days. The program launched July 21 and runs through December 31, 2026, with possible expansion to other locations. Applicants still need to pay the standard $185 application fee and schedule a regular interview first. The $750 buys a faster appointment, not a faster decision, and doesn't guarantee approval. The PERM Takeaway: This pilot doesn't directly touch employment-based visas, but it's worth watching for two reasons. First, it signals that the State Department is willing to monetize speed, and that model could eventually expand to other visa categories, including immigrant visa interviews for PERM-sponsored workers. Second, any program that shifts consular resources toward paid expedited appointments could slow down the regular appointment queue, potentially affecting wait times for employment-based interviews at the same posts. Employers with sponsored workers awaiting consular processing in Mexico should monitor whether this pilot affects regular scheduling availability. And more broadly, the precedent of paying for faster government service is one the immigration system may be heading toward across the board. Stay sharp, stay compliant, and we'll see you next week.

USCIS Reaches FY 2027 H-1B Cap The door is officially closed. USCIS confirmed it has received enough petitions to meet both the regular H-1B cap and the advanced degree exemption for FY 2027. No more cap-subject filings will be accepted. Employers with pending petitions should continue tracking their cases, but for companies whose candidates weren't selected, it's time to pivot. Alternative visa options like O-1, L-1, TN, E-3, or cap-exempt H-1B positions are the immediate fallback. And if there's one universal takeaway from this year's cycle, it's that waiting until spring to start H-1B planning is a recipe for losing talent. The PERM Takeaway: When the H-1B cap closes, PERM becomes the conversation. Employers with unselected candidates now face a choice: try again next year in an increasingly competitive lottery, or start building a permanent sponsorship path through labor certification. For workers already in the U.S. on OPT or other temporary status, time is not on their side. Starting the PERM process now, even before an H-1B is secured, can establish a priority date and lay the groundwork for a green card that doesn't depend on a lottery. Employers should sit down with counsel this week to identify which unselected candidates are PERM-eligible and begin the recruitment advertising process. Every day you wait is a day closer to a status gap that could force your best talent out of the country. DHS Finalizes Four-Year Limit for International Students It's official. DHS has finalized the rule ending "duration of status" for most F-1 students, J-1 exchange visitors, and I visa holders. Starting September 15, 2026, students will be admitted for the length of their program up to a maximum of four years. Need more time? You'll have to apply for a USCIS extension. The rule also cuts the F-1 grace period from 60 days to 30, giving graduates half the time they used to have for transitioning to work authorization. Universities, advocacy groups, and employers are all bracing for the administrative fallout. The PERM Takeaway: The talent pipeline just got shorter and more fragile. PhD candidates, medical trainees, and students in longer degree programs are the most immediately affected, and those are exactly the high-skill workers employers compete hardest to sponsor. A four-year cap means more students will need extensions, more will face processing delays, and some will simply leave. The 30-day grace period cut is equally concerning: graduates now have half the runway to secure OPT, connect with employers, and begin the sponsorship conversation. Companies that recruit from universities need to engage earlier. Identify potential hires during their programs, not after graduation. And for employers already sponsoring former students, make sure their status timelines are airtight. The margin for error just got cut in half. August Visa Bulletin: Family Moves Forward, Employment Treads Water The August 2026 Visa Bulletin delivered strong progress on the family-sponsored side, with F1 advancing 5.5 months, F2B jumping seven months, F3 moving three months, and F4 progressing 3.5 months for most countries. Employment-based categories were a different story. EB-1 China inched forward one month, EB-3 moved one month for most countries, and nearly everything else stayed put. EB-2 India and EB-5 India remain unavailable, continuing a painful stretch for Indian nationals in the employment-based backlog. The PERM Takeaway: The employment-based freeze continues, and for Indian nationals in particular, the outlook hasn't improved. EB-2 India unavailable for two consecutive months means employers sponsoring workers in that category need to be having honest conversations about timelines. Years-long waits between PERM approval and green card issuance are the reality, and retention strategies need to account for that. The modest EB-3 movement is worth noting for employers considering category downgrading as a strategic play. And for new PERM filings, the stagnant bulletin reinforces the urgency of filing early: the sooner you lock in a priority date, the sooner your employee gets in line for a visa number that may not move for a long time. Appeals Court Extends TPS Relief for Haitians Through July 27 A federal appeals court has temporarily blocked the administration from ending TPS for more than 300,000 Haitians, preserving deportation protections and work authorization through at least July 27. The ruling follows another recent court order that halted work permit revocations for certain TPS holders and asylum seekers. The legal battles continue, but for now, Haitian TPS holders can keep working. The keyword, as always, is "for now." The PERM Takeaway: July 27 is three days away. Employers with Haitian TPS holders cannot afford to treat this extension as anything more than a temporary lifeline. The courts are buying time, not solving the problem. Every employer in this situation should already have a reverification plan ready to execute the moment protections lapse, and more importantly, should be actively evaluating whether PERM sponsorship is viable for their TPS-dependent workers. If an employee has the skills, the job qualifies, and the employer is willing to sponsor, the PERM process can provide the permanent solution that TPS was never designed to be. The window to start that process is right now, not after the next court ruling. Stay sharp, stay compliant, and we'll see you next week.

DHS Finalizes Broader Public Charge Rule The public charge rule is back, and it's broader than before. DHS finalized a rule that expands how immigration officers evaluate whether green card applicants are likely to become dependent on government benefits. Starting September 18, 2026, USCIS will once again consider the use of certain means-tested public benefits, including Medicaid, SNAP, and some housing assistance, as part of a case-by-case review. The rule applies to applications filed on or after the effective date and does not affect categories Congress has exempted from public charge review. For anyone who remembers the legal battles over the first version of this rule, round two has officially begun. The PERM Takeaway: This rule doesn't directly affect the PERM labor certification stage, but it lands squarely on the adjustment of status process that comes after. Sponsored employees moving from an approved labor certification to a green card will now face a broader public charge assessment. Employers need to understand what this means for their workers: any use of Medicaid, SNAP, or certain housing programs could be weighed against an applicant during their green card review. For companies that offer robust benefits packages, this is actually a competitive advantage in sponsorship. An employee with strong employer-provided health insurance, a solid salary, and documented financial stability will have a much easier time clearing the public charge bar. Employers should review their benefits offerings through this lens and ensure sponsored employees understand which public benefits could affect their case. Prevention starts with information. Four-Year Cap on Foreign Student Visas Finalized DHS has officially killed the "duration of status" system that allowed F-1 students and J-1 exchange visitors to remain in the U.S. for the length of their academic program. Starting September 15, 2026, most students will be admitted for a maximum of four years, after which they'll need to apply for an extension if their program runs longer. Universities and advocacy groups are sounding the alarm, warning that the change will increase costs, create administrative headaches, and complicate doctoral programs, medical training, and other longer degree tracks that routinely exceed four years. The PERM Takeaway: This is a pipeline story. F-1 students are the future H-1B workforce, and H-1B holders are the future PERM candidates. When you make it harder and more expensive for foreign students to complete their education in the U.S., fewer of them will stay. Fewer will enter the workforce. And fewer will be available for employers to sponsor. The four-year cap particularly threatens PhD candidates and medical trainees, exactly the kind of high-skill, hard-to-find talent that employers go through the PERM process to retain. Companies that recruit from university pipelines should be tracking this closely and considering earlier engagement with potential hires. If your future PERM candidate drops out of a PhD program because their visa expired mid-dissertation, that's a talent loss you could have anticipated. TPS Work Authorization Extended Again, But Deadlines Are Days Away USCIS has extended temporary work authorization for TPS beneficiaries from Burma, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, and Yemen through July 17, and for Haitian TPS holders through July 24. The extensions are tied to ongoing litigation, and unless further court action or government guidance pushes the deadlines again, employers will need to reverify employment eligibility for affected workers later this month. This is the latest in a series of short-term extensions that have kept TPS-dependent workforces in a constant state of uncertainty. The PERM Takeaway: July 17 is today. July 24 is next week. If you have TPS holders from any of these countries on your payroll and you haven't already mapped out your reverification plan, you are behind. Employers need to monitor USCIS guidance daily for any further extensions and be ready to act the moment a deadline passes without renewal. For workers who lose TPS authorization, the employment consequences are immediate. This is the strongest possible argument for exploring PERM sponsorship or other employment-based pathways for TPS employees while they still have valid work authorization. Every extension that passes without a long-term plan is a missed opportunity. The next one might not come. 54% of Employers Juggling Multiple Providers for Global Mobility A new survey of 500 HR decision-makers across the U.S., U.K., Germany, and the Netherlands reveals just how fragmented global hiring has become. More than half of organizations are relying on multiple providers to manage cross-border employment, and the average time to onboard an international hire is nearly 47 days. Looking ahead, 45% of respondents identified AI and automation as their top priority for improving global mobility programs. The data paints a picture of an industry that's growing fast but struggling to keep up with its own complexity. The PERM Takeaway: If your company is one of the 54% managing sponsorship across multiple providers, you're paying for inefficiency. Every handoff between vendors creates a gap where documentation can slip, timelines can stretch, and compliance can break down. For PERM cases specifically, fragmented provider relationships mean your recruitment advertising might be managed by one agency, your legal filings by another, and your internal HR team left trying to stitch it all together. The 47-day average onboarding timeline is a symptom of this problem. Employers should evaluate whether consolidating their immigration and recruitment advertising vendors could reduce risk and accelerate timelines. A PERM ad agency that works in lockstep with your immigration counsel isn't a luxury. In this environment, it's a necessity. U.S. Visa Services Suspended in Three African Countries Due to Ebola The State Department has temporarily suspended all U.S. visa services in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, and South Sudan due to the regional Ebola outbreak. Other countries continue to operate with varying levels of appointment availability and processing capacity. The visa services tracker provides country-by-country updates on embassy operations worldwide. The PERM Takeaway: Visa service disruptions are unpredictable, and the Ebola-related closures are a stark reminder that forces completely outside the immigration system can shut down consular processing overnight. Employers with sponsored workers who need consular interviews in affected regions are now looking at indefinite delays. This reinforces the value of adjustment of status within the U.S. whenever it's available as an alternative to consular processing abroad. For employers with global operations, maintaining a real-time awareness of consular conditions in every country where you have sponsored employees isn't optional anymore. Build consular monitoring into your immigration workflow and have backup processing plans ready for every case. Stay sharp, stay compliant, and we'll see you next week.

As America approaches its 250th birthday, Forbes has released a list that should be required reading for every business leader, talent strategist, and policymaker in the country: the Forbes 250 Most Successful Living Immigrants in America. And the story behind how that list was built is just as revealing as the names on it. In this episode of the Immigration Nerds podcast, host Lauren Clark, Managing Attorney at Erickson Immigration Group, sits down with Alex Knapp, Senior Editor at Forbes, to go behind the curtain of the Forbes 250 list. Knapp co-edited the list alongside Michael Noer as part of Forbes’ year-long partnership with America 250, the bipartisan initiative established by Congress to celebrate the nation’s semi quincentennial. The result is more than a ranking. It’s a data-driven, story-rich argument that immigration isn’t just part of America’s past, it’s the engine of its present and the key to its future. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── #1: Immigrants Don’t Just Appear on the List, They Dominate Every Category The Forbes 250 immigration list is part of a broader six-list series, each organized around a core American value: innovation, upward mobility, pluralism, reinvention, builders, and courage. What struck Knapp and his team is that immigrants don’t just show up on the immigration list, they keep appearing at the top of nearly every other list too. The pattern is unmistakable: The Innovation list was heavily populated by immigrants. Elon Musk, an immigrant from South Africa, was ranked number one. The Self-Made Americans (Upward Mobility) list featured over a quarter immigrants. Nearly half of all Nobel Prizes awarded to Americans have gone to naturalized citizens immigrants who came here and advanced science, medicine, and technology. Every major Hollywood studio was founded by immigrants. Iconic American financial institutions, Goldman Sachs, Bank of New York Mellon were founded by immigrants. The technology sector’s biggest names, from the PayPal mafia to SpaceX leadership, are overwhelmingly immigrant-led. “All of the areas in which America is dominant - finance, Hollywood, technology, science - immigrants are at the core of all of those stories.” — Alex Knapp, Senior Editor, Forbes ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── #2: Success on This List Is Multi-Dimensional, Not Just Wealth One of the most interesting editorial decisions behind the Forbes 250 is that it isn’t purely a money list. While Forbes is candid that financial success is a significant factor, most of the billionaires on the Forbes Billionaires List who are immigrants naturally made the cut. The editorial team deliberately evaluated success across multiple dimensions. The criteria included: Entrepreneurial Impact: Building enduring businesses that reshaped industries. Cultural Influence: Shaping American identity, aesthetics, and daily life. Scientific Achievement: Advancing fields from mRNA vaccine technology to robotics. Athletic Excellence Plus Legacy: Not just winning, but building something lasting afterward. Mario Lemieux, for example, ranked not just for being one of hockey’s greatest players but for saving the Pittsburgh Penguins from bankruptcy after retirement. Philanthropic Reach: José Andrés ranked for taking restaurant logistics expertise and deploying it in humanitarian crises, setting up food operations in disaster zones in under 24 hours. Multi-Domain Achievement: Arnold Schwarzenegger was ranked number one, not as the wealthiest, but as someone who topped nearly every success metric: athletics, entertainment, politics, business, and philanthropy. “If we were grading purely on money, Arnold Schwarzenegger would not have been our number one pick. But he was number one because we looked at so many different success metrics, and he was at the top of nearly all of them.” — Alex Knapp, Senior Editor, Forbes ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── #3: The Stories Behind the Rankings Are Quintessentially American Beyond the data, it’s the individual stories that make this episode unforgettable. Knapp shares several that capture the essence of the immigrant journey and the unique American capacity for reinvention: Tony Xu (#22, Founder of DoorDash): Washed dishes in the restaurants where his mother worked as a waitress. Built one of America’s largest delivery platforms. The generational arc from dishwasher to tech founder is, as Knapp puts it, “something so American.” Anastasia Soare (Founder, Anastasia Beverly Hills): Left communist Romania legally unable to bring a single asset with her. Arrived in the U.S. literally penniless and built a $3 billion beauty empire that reshaped the American aesthetic. As Knapp notes: “Watch TV from the ‘80s and watch TV now, that’s her influence.” Katalin Karikó (Nobel Laureate, BioNTech Executive): Arrived in the U.S. with a few hundred dollars hidden in a teddy bear. Nearly pushed out of academia. Went on to co-discover the mRNA technology that powered the COVID-19 vaccine and is now being developed for flu, cancer, and beyond. She has appeared on three Forbes 250 lists so far. David Tran (Founder, Huy Fong Foods): Fled communist Vietnam and gave America sriracha. Knapp puts it simply: “I can’t even imagine the American culinary landscape without sriracha.” Rodney Brooks (Co-inventor of the Roomba): An Australian immigrant and one of the great pioneers of robotics, appearing on both the immigration and innovation lists. Michael J. Fox (#200): So synonymous with American culture that the Forbes team initially forgot he was born in Canada. “He is so American to me that I almost forgot he was an immigrant,” Knapp admits. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── #4: What "Being American" Actually Means, According to the Data Knapp offers a reflection that goes beyond the list itself. When you compile six lists across six American values and the same immigrant names keep surfacing across all of them, a larger truth emerges: the American identity is defined by adaptability, self-reinvention, and multi-domain excellence, qualities that immigrant stories embody more powerfully than almost anyone else’s. As Knapp puts it, there’s not one way to be American. The list includes Arnold Schwarzenegger, Melania Trump, and Australian novelist Peter Carey, all for entirely different reasons. That range isn’t a weakness of the list; it’s the point. Americanness, in Knapp’s words, is “indefinable but yet identifiable.” And the top countries of origin on the living list tell their own story: India leads by a significant margin, followed by Canada and Israel. On the historic list, Germany and Hungary stand out, with Knapp noting that Hungarian influence on American history is so deep “there’s a book to be written” about it. “There’s not one way to be American. There’s not one thing you can point to and say, “Oh, that’s definitely American.” And I think that fluidity, that adaptability... really speaks to that essential Americanness, which is indefinable but yet identifiable.” — Alex Knapp, Senior Editor, Forbes ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── News Nerd Update: What’s Happening Right Now in U.S. Immigration Rob Taylor, Partner at Erickson Immigration Group, delivered critical updates that every employer and immigration professional needs to know: July Visa Bulletin - Mixed Movement and EB-2 India Unavailable: The July Visa Bulletin brought unusual shifts. EB-1 China and EB-3 China advanced, but EB-1 India retrogressed and EB-2 India became unavailable, likely until the new fiscal year begins in October. The Department of State attributed the changes to sustained high demand. Adjustment applications will be accepted under the Final Action chart for those who are current. Supreme Court Strikes Down Birthright Citizenship Executive Order: In a landmark 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court reaffirmed that the 14th Amendment guarantees citizenship to nearly all children born on U.S. soil. Chief Justice Roberts concluded that children born to parents in the U.S. whether unlawfully or temporarily are citizens at birth under the Constitution. This was one of the most significant constitutional immigration cases in recent history. $100K H-1B Fee - Back in Effect After Appeal: Though previously struck down by a court, the Trump administration appealed the decision on the $100,000 H-1B fee and received a stay, meaning the fee is currently back in effect. The timeline for when the appeal will be heard remains unclear. Duration of Status Rule - Implementation Imminent: DHS is expected to finalize the rule changing the admission period for F-1 and J-1 visa holders from “duration of status” to a specific end date aligned with their program. This means students and exchange visitors will likely need to file extensions of stay to remain in the U.S. between or beyond programs. The rule also shortens the F-1 grace period from 60 to 30 days. Individuals on these statuses must pay close attention to their I-94 records and plan accordingly. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Quote Highlight A standout moment from the episode is a statement that captures the thesis of the entire Forbes 250 project in a single breath: “Immigration is just, I think, core to our identity as Americans. Especially when you look at the history of it, they’re woven into the fabric of what America was, what we are today, and likely what we’ll have in the future.” — Alex Knapp, Senior Editor, Forbes ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Why This Episode Is a Must-Listen This episode of Immigration Nerds is essential listening for anyone who wants to move the immigration conversation from abstract policy debate to concrete, undeniable impact. The Forbes 250 list isn’t an opinion piece, it’s a meticulously researched catalog of what happens when talented people are given the opportunity to build, create, and contribute in a country that lets them. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Call to Action Subscribe to the Immigration Nerds podcast for ongoing updates and expert insights into immigration law, policy, and the stories that shape our world. Explore the full Forbes 250 Most Successful Living Immigrants list linked in the show notes, and share the stories that resonate with your network. Share this episode with colleagues, leadership teams, and anyone who needs a data-backed reminder of why immigration matters to American business. Visit Erickson Immigration Group at eiglaw.com for the latest immigration news, employer guidance, and strategic support. Remember: If you believe immigration makes us all better, then this is the podcast for you.

DOL Plans First Major PERM Overhaul in More Than Two Decades This is the story. The Department of Labor has announced plans to modernize the PERM labor certification process for the first time in over 20 years. The agency hasn't released proposed regulations yet, but its regulatory agenda outlines updates to recruitment requirements that would better reflect how employers actually hire in 2026. Think greater emphasis on online recruiting methods, stronger compliance requirements, and increased scrutiny of employers that have recently conducted layoffs. The current rules stay in place while rulemaking moves forward, but the signal is clear: the way PERM has worked for two decades is about to change. The PERM Takeaway: Every employer who has ever filed a PERM case should be paying attention to this. The recruitment process, the backbone of every labor certification, is being rewritten. If the DOL shifts toward online-first recruiting requirements, the newspaper ads and journal postings that have defined PERM recruitment for years could be supplemented or replaced by digital job boards, social media postings, and other modern methods. That's a massive operational change for employers and the ad agencies that support them. At the same time, increased scrutiny of employers with recent layoffs is a direct warning: if you've cut staff and are simultaneously sponsoring foreign workers, expect the DOL to ask hard questions. Employers should start preparing now by documenting their hiring practices, strengthening their good-faith recruitment efforts, and working closely with their PERM ad agency to ensure every campaign is built to survive whatever the new rules look like. The rulemaking process takes time, but the employers who get ahead of it will have a significant advantage over those who scramble to catch up. Trump Seeks Supreme Court Rehearing on Birthright Citizenship The birthright citizenship fight isn't over, at least not in the administration's eyes. President Trump has announced he will ask the Supreme Court to rehear its recent 6-3 decision that struck down his executive order limiting citizenship for children born on U.S. soil. The ruling, issued last month, held that the 14th Amendment's protections remain intact with only limited exceptions. Legal experts are skeptical: rehearing requests are rarely granted, and if this one fails, the administration would need a constitutional amendment or new legislation to pursue changes. But the fact that the request is being made at all keeps the issue alive politically. The PERM Takeaway: The legal consensus says this rehearing request is going nowhere, but the political messaging matters. For sponsored employees with U.S.-born children, the continued noise around birthright citizenship creates lingering uncertainty even after a clear Supreme Court victory. Employers should reassure their foreign national workforce that the law has not changed and their children's citizenship is secure. On a strategic level, this is another reminder that immigration policy under this administration is a moving target. Even settled rulings get challenged. Employers should build their sponsorship strategies around what the law says today, not what the administration wishes it said, and stay in regular contact with counsel to track any developments that could affect their workforce. DHS Proposes Rule to Implement EB-5 Reform Law DHS has published a proposed rule to implement the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022, the law that overhauled the immigrant investor program. The proposal covers regional center audits, recordkeeping, infrastructure project definitions, high-unemployment area designations, capital redeployment rules, and promoter registration requirements. Public comments are open through August 31, 2026, before a final rule is issued. The PERM Takeaway: The EB-5 program operates in a different lane than PERM, but the regulatory activity is worth watching. When DHS dedicates resources to rulemaking on one immigration program, it can signal broader reform momentum across the system, including at DOL. The EB-5 overhaul also affects the employment-based visa landscape overall: investor visas consume EB-5 visa numbers that sit alongside EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3 in the preference system. For employers tracking visa bulletin movement and priority date backlogs, changes to how EB-5 operates can have downstream effects on availability across all employment-based categories. Keep an eye on this one, even if it's not your lane. 73% of Americans Still Say Immigration Is Good for the Country Despite all the enforcement headlines and political battles, Americans remain broadly supportive of immigration. A new Gallup poll found that 73% of respondents say immigration is a good thing for the country, down from a record 79% last year but still well above the historical average. Majorities said legal immigration helps fill workforce shortages, generates tax revenue, and supports science and technology jobs. Support for pathways to citizenship is even higher: 81% back protections for immigrants brought to the U.S. as children, and 75% support a pathway for other undocumented immigrants who meet certain requirements. The PERM Takeaway: These numbers are a powerful counterpoint to the enforcement-heavy narrative dominating the news cycle. When three out of four Americans say immigration is good for the country and specifically cite workforce benefits, that's validation for every employer investing in foreign talent through the PERM process. Use this data internally when making the case for sponsorship budgets and externally when communicating your company's commitment to a diverse, global workforce. The public isn't anti-immigration. They're pro-system, pro-legal pathways, and pro-workforce. That's exactly what PERM is designed to deliver. Stay sharp, stay compliant, and we'll see you next week.

Prevailing Wage Levels Jump Across the Board The Department of Labor's updated prevailing wage data went into effect July 1, and most employers are looking at higher numbers. The median increase came in at 3.3%, with roughly 74% of occupation-by-metro combinations seeing wages climb. Science, legal, and healthcare roles led the way, and most major STEM occupations followed suit. There was one notable exception: Software Developer and Data Scientist wages actually declined in California's Santa Clara/San Jose metro, though that market still tops the national pay charts. Any employer filing Labor Condition Applications or PERM applications needs to be working off the new numbers starting now. The PERM Takeaway: This is the story that hits every PERM employer's bottom line directly. Prevailing wage levels determine the salary floor for your sponsored positions, and a 3.3% median increase means your labor costs just went up whether you planned for it or not. Employers with PERM cases in progress need to check immediately whether their offered wage still meets the new prevailing wage for their occupation and metro area. If it doesn't, you may need to amend the offer or refile. For new filings, build the updated wages into your budgets before you start the recruitment process, not after. And for those in the Santa Clara/San Jose market seeing a decline, don't assume it's a free pass. Audit the specific occupation codes, because the aggregate decline may not apply to your particular role. Work with your PERM ad agency to make sure every filing reflects the July 1 data. Supreme Court Preserves Birthright Citizenship The Supreme Court handed down one of its most consequential immigration rulings in years on June 30, striking down President Trump's executive order that sought to restrict birthright citizenship. The Court held that children born in the United States remain U.S. citizens under the 14th Amendment, with only limited exceptions. The ruling leaves longstanding citizenship rules intact: most children born on U.S. soil automatically acquire citizenship at birth, regardless of their parents' immigration status. It was a decisive rejection of the administration's attempt to redefine who qualifies as a citizen from birth. The PERM Takeaway: While birthright citizenship doesn't directly affect the PERM labor certification process, this ruling carries enormous weight for the families of sponsored workers. Many H-1B holders and other employment-based visa holders have U.S.-born children whose citizenship was never in question until the executive order created uncertainty. That uncertainty is now resolved. For employers, this is a retention and morale story. Your sponsored employees were watching this case closely, and the outcome removes one major source of anxiety from their lives. A less stressed employee is a more engaged employee. Use this moment to reinforce your commitment to their long-term immigration journey. TPS Work Authorization Extended Through July 10, But the Clock Is Loud USCIS extended the validity of certain employment authorization documents for TPS holders from Haiti and Syria through July 10. The extension came after the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to proceed with terminating TPS for both countries. Employers should treat affected EADs as valid through July 10, avoid early reverification, and continue monitoring USCIS guidance as the agency works through implementation. It's a brief reprieve, not a solution. The PERM Takeaway: July 10 is days away. Employers with Haitian or Syrian TPS holders on their payroll need to have a plan that extends beyond next Thursday. If TPS protections end and work authorization expires, those employees lose the ability to work legally. This is the final window to explore whether any of those workers are eligible for PERM sponsorship or another employment-based pathway that could preserve their status. For employees who don't qualify, employers need to understand their obligations under I-9 rules and be prepared to act accordingly. Do not wait for another extension announcement. Plan as though this is the last one. ICE Arrests Surge Past 10,000 in Five Days Federal immigration enforcement just hit a new gear. ICE arrested more than 10,000 people over a five-day stretch, with officers conducting enforcement during routine check-ins, traffic stops, and street encounters. The agency's detention population has swelled to more than 63,000. The numbers reflect a directive to significantly increase daily arrests, and the operational tempo shows no signs of slowing down. The PERM Takeaway: When ICE enforcement is running this hot, the anxiety ripples through every immigrant community, including your workforce. Sponsored employees in valid status have nothing to fear legally, but the climate of heightened enforcement creates real psychological pressure that can affect productivity, attendance, and retention. Employers should proactively communicate with their foreign national employees about their rights and their valid work authorization status. Make sure they know where to find their immigration documents, understand that they are in compliance, and have access to counsel if they encounter an enforcement situation. A brief, reassuring internal communication can go a long way in keeping your team focused and stable during a volatile period. New York Sounds the Alarm on Immigration Scams New York officials are warning immigrants about a surge in scams targeting people navigating the immigration system. The schemes range from scammers impersonating USCIS or ICE officials to fake law firms, fraudulent "notarios," phishing attempts, and bogus visa lottery offers. Officials are reminding people that government agencies never demand payment through gift cards, money transfer apps, or cryptocurrency, and urging anyone seeking immigration help to work only with licensed attorneys or DOJ-accredited representatives. The PERM Takeaway: Your sponsored employees are prime targets for these scams, especially during periods of high enforcement activity and policy uncertainty. When people are anxious about their immigration status, they're more vulnerable to anyone offering fast solutions or claiming government authority. Employers can play a protective role here by sharing scam awareness resources with their foreign national workforce and reminding employees that all immigration communications related to their sponsorship should flow through official company counsel. A quick email or team meeting covering the basics of scam recognition could save an employee from a devastating financial loss or a compromised immigration case. Stay sharp, stay compliant, and we'll see you next week.

Buried in Friday's rulemaking agenda is a detail worth more attention than it's getting: the Department of Labor isn't just tweaking prevailing wage math, it's planning a full rewrite of PERM regulations for the first time since 2004. And the DOL's own language points to one area first: "standards for recruiting qualified US workers." Translation for employers and the firms that represent them: the recruitment step of PERM, the part everyone treats as a formality is about to become the part that gets scrutinized hardest. Here's what that likely means in practice: → Documentation gets harder to fake and easier to fail. If audit authority expands, "we ran the ads" won't cut it. Employers will need to show how recruitment was run, where, and why it met good-faith standards. → Layoff-adjacent hires face a higher bar. DOL flagged safeguards for workers affected by RIFs, meaning recruitment efforts around roles near recent layoffs will get read more skeptically. → "Technology changes" is regulatory code for modernized recruiting norms. 2004-era job ad placement rules are getting an update. Employers still treating PERM recruitment as a box-checking exercise are building risk into every case filed after this rule lands This lands alongside the other big PERM story of the summer: DOL's prevailing wage rule, which closed public comment May 26 and is expected to finalize by late 2026 or early 2027. If adopted as proposed, wage floors jump substantially across all four levels from entry-level (+33%) to senior (+22%). Combined with tighter recruitment scrutiny, employers are looking at a PERM process that costs more and demands more. The firms and employers who treat PERM recruitment as a strategic, well-documented process not a checklist item are the ones who'll sail through the next era of audits. The ones who don't will find out the hard way. This is exactly the conversation we're having with our law firm partners right now: how do we tighten recruitment execution before the rule forces the issue.