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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has announced changes to fees for the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, saying the revised structure will help cover the full cost of administering the program while supporting faster processing, stronger oversight and fraud-prevention measures.
The State Department has announced new visa restrictions aimed at people who organize, facilitate or profit from travel to the United States for childbirth. Officials say the policy targets commercial networks and fraud, not pregnant visitors generally, and will be enforced through a global review of visa holders.
The Trump administration is signaling that the H-1B visa program could face major changes as federal immigration enforcement expands. Officials have tied the program to broader fraud crackdowns, reviving long-running concerns about misuse, labor-market impact and compliance in high-skilled employment immigration.
Residents of Piddington, a small Oxfordshire village, backed a symbolic vote to “leave” the United Kingdom after the government proposed housing asylum seekers at a former military base nearby. The result highlighted local anger over the plan and broader tensions in Britain over migration and accommodation policy.
Beginning Sept. 15, 2026, F-2 and J-2 dependents admitted to the United States will no longer receive duration-of-status treatment. Instead, new I-94 records will show a fixed Admit Until Date tied to the principal’s stay, while USCIS will reject outdated filing editions for key extension and work authorization forms.
China has begun enforcing new exit-entry regulations that add oversight to how citizens apply for travel documents and leave the country. The rules, which took effect Sept. 15, also formalize warnings for travel to high-risk destinations and expand the legal basis for restricting departures in some cases.
A coalition of states and cities has filed lawsuits to stop a Trump administration rule that would let immigration officers weigh a broader range of public benefits in green card decisions. The challenge centers on a revived public-charge policy set to take effect Sept. 18, 2026, and the discretion it gives federal officials.
The Department of Homeland Security has proposed removing the 60-day discretionary grace period that currently allows certain employment-based visa holders to remain in the United States after their jobs end. The change would affect H-1B, L-1 and TN workers, as well as dependents, if finalized.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services says it has reached the H-2B visa cap for the first half of fiscal year 2027, limiting new petitions for workers with start dates before April 1, 2027. The announcement affects seasonal employers that rely on temporary nonagricultural labor.
Federal prosecutors in Texas say a former USCIS senior immigration officer and an associate took illegal payments in exchange for manipulating and expediting immigration cases. The complaint alleges the pair collected hundreds of thousands of dollars over several years while bypassing normal review steps and eligibility rules.
A new Homeland Security rule broadens a permanent-residence registration option for certain U.S.-born children of foreign government employees, replacing narrower diplomatic language and revising USCIS forms. The change took effect Sept. 4, 2026, but a Maryland injunction currently limits how the government can enforce it against covered class members.
The September 2026 Visa Bulletin warns that high demand in the EB-1 category for India may force the State Department to make the category temporarily unavailable before the fiscal year ends.
A reported State Department proposal tied to the Trump administration’s birthright citizenship orders could require parents applying for children’s passports to provide proof of their own citizenship or immigration status, but the change has not been finalized.
The State Department has reportedly paused immigrant visa interview appointments worldwide while consular officers complete public charge training, creating uncertainty for families awaiting green card interviews abroad.
The September 2026 Visa Bulletin shows significant advancement in several family-sponsored immigrant visa categories, especially for applicants from most Asian countries, India, China-mainland born applicants and some categories affecting the Philippines.
Singapore will introduce a dedicated ONE Pass track for global AI and technology leaders in January 2027, allowing qualifying equity compensation to count toward its S$30,000 monthly income requirement.
USCIS will broaden its public-charge review for certain Form I-485 applications filed beginning Sept. 18, 2026, allowing officers to consider a wider range of means-tested public benefits while continuing to decide cases individually.
USCIS will require new editions of Forms I-539 and I-765 beginning Sept. 15, 2026. Older editions submitted on or after that date will be rejected, with no grace period.
U.S. nationals represented 23% of investment-migration applications processed by Henley & Partners in 2024, while the firm’s American client numbers increased more than 1,000% from 2019, highlighting growing interest among wealthy Americans in overseas residency options.
USCIS says 11 people have been charged in a nationwide scheme that allegedly arranged more than 1,000 sham marriages over more than a decade, with some foreign nationals paying as much as $100,000 to obtain U.S. immigration benefits.