Search
Contact
Login
Share this article
USCIS recently published a new edition of Form G-1055, Fee Schedule, removing fee waiver eligibility for Form I-131 for certain nonimmigrants.
Key Points:
This alert has been provided by the BAL U.S. Practice Group.
Copyright © 2025 Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. All rights reserved. Reprinting or digital redistribution to the public is permitted only with the express written permission of Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. For inquiries, please contact copyright@bal.com.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services received enough petitions to reach the mandated 65,000 H-1B visa regular cap and the 20,000 H-1B visa master’s cap (the U.S. advanced degree exemption) for fiscal year (FY) 2026.
Additional Information: The H-1B program is used by U.S. businesses to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations. In March, USCIS received enough registrations to meet the FY 2026 H-1B cap. More information on the H-1B cap season can be found here.
Update on applications received for requested date of need from April 1, 2025 (fiscal year (FY) 2025 second half of the visa cap):
The Department of Labor reported that, as of July 12, a total of 8,893 cases were issued Final Decisions. Certified positions for this period were allocated for 120,172 workers.
Per U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services guidance, 64,716 supplemental H-2B visas were allocated for the late second half of FY 2025 (May 15 through Sept. 30) and 5,000 visas were limited to returning workers who were issued H-2B visas or held H-2B status in FYs 2022, 2023 or 2024, regardless of country of nationality.
These late second half of FY 2025 petitions must request employment start dates from May 15, 2025, through Sept. 30, 2025.
The U.S. Senate voted to confirm Joseph Edlow as director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on July 15. The 52-47 vote was divided along party lines.
As USCIS director, Edlow will play a key role in advancing President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda, stating at his May confirmation hearing that “at its core, USCIS must be an immigration enforcement agency, an agency that is dedicated to ever evolving and innovative techniques for screening and vetting its applicant pool.”
During his confirmation hearing, Edlow said he will work with agency leadership “to develop and implement a plan that will leverage an appropriate use of personnel, processes and technology to address the current pending caseload” and “ensure that current USCIS workforce performs its statutory responsibilities.”
Edlow previously served as the acting director of USCIS in the first Trump administration. He will be the seventh director of USCIS following the resignation of former director Ur M. Jaddou.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will begin issuing invitations to apply under the Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP) starting July 28, 2025.
Additional Information: IRCC recommends that those not selected consider applying for a super visa, which allows multiple entries for up to 10 years and stays of up to five years at a time, with the option to extend by two additional years without leaving Canada.
This alert has been provided by the BAL Global Practice Group.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services published guidance for employers regarding completion of the Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, for certain beneficiaries of the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) Venezuela 2023 redesignation.
Additional Information: On May 19, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court granted the government’s request for an emergency stay of the district court order in National TPS Alliance, et al., v. Kristi Noem et al., case No. 3:25-cv-1766 (N.D. Cal. March 31, 2025). Based on the Supreme Court’s order, the March 31, 2025, district court order is stayed pending the disposition of the government’s appeal in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
On May 30, 2025, the district court in this case ordered that — pending resolution of the litigation — TPS beneficiaries who received certain TPS-related documentation on or before Feb. 5, 2025, will maintain TPS and their documentation will remain valid.
BAL continues to monitor the ongoing litigation and will provide updates.
The U.S. State Department released the August 2025 Visa Bulletin. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced filings for employment-based visa preference categories must use the Final Action Dates chart in this bulletin.
Final Action Dates for EB-2 visa country categories retrogressed 1½ months to Sept. 1, 2023, except for India and China, which remained the same as last month. Final Action Dates for India EB-3 visas showed the only progression, advancing one month to May 22, 2013.
Final Action Dates:
EB-1 visa
EB-2 visa*
EB-3 visa**
Final Action Dates Chart for Employment-Based Visa Applications
Additional Information: *Due to increased number use, it has become necessary to retrogress the EB-2 Final Action Date for Rest of World countries. The issuance total in this category is rapidly approaching the annual limit for fiscal year (FY) 2025, necessitating this slowdown of issuance rates. It is likely the annual limit will be reached sometime in August, if not sooner. If at any time the EB-2 annual limit is reached, the preference category would immediately become “unavailable” and no further requests for numbers would be honored. The State Department will continually monitor this situation and make any necessary adjustments accordingly.
**Visa demand and number use remain high in the EB-3 and EW visa categories, and issuance totals are approaching the annual limits for FY 2025 in those categories. It will likely be necessary to either retrogress the Final Action Dates or make the categories “unavailable” in September, if not sooner. The State Department will continually monitor this situation and make any necessary adjustments accordingly.
Review BAL’s employer’s guide to reading the Visa Bulletin to better understand this monthly report.
The Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) published the randomized assignment groups for H-2B visa applications submitted July 3–5, 2025, with a start date of Oct. 1, 2025.
Additional Information: The H-2B visa program allows U.S. employers to hire foreign workers for temporary nonagricultural jobs when not enough U.S. workers are available.
The randomization process is critical for employers to understand the status of their filings and prepare for the next stages, such as responding to Notices of Deficiency or Acceptance. Each application is assigned a unique number and placed into one of three assignment groups to help ensure fairness and transparency in how applications are reviewed.
The State Department recently published the Report of the Visa Office 2024 showing a steady climb in both immigrant visa and nonimmigrant visa issuance in fiscal year (FY) 2024.
According to the report, the State Department issued a total of 612,258 immigrant visas, an increase of 8.75% from last year’s total of 562,976. Nonimmigrant visa issuance advanced at a slower pace, rising from 10,438,327 in FY 2023 to 10,969,936 in FY 2024 — a year-over-year increase of just over 5%. Most posts in India and Mexico issued record high nonimmigrant visas in FY 2024.
Overall visa issuance continues its upward trend after plummeting during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Additional Information: The Visa Services Office publishes immigrant visa and nonimmigrant visa data in the annual Report of the Visa Office. Beginning with FY 2019, the annual report replaced an earlier transaction-based methodology with an application-centric methodology in the counting and reporting of all immigrant and nonimmigrant visa data.
The reconciliation bill H.R.1, aka “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” signed into law on July 4, includes several immigration-related provisions, including new fees, as well as more than $140 billion allocated to border security and enforcement measures.
Additional Information: Many of the new immigration fees are minimum fees, allowing the agencies to set higher amounts, and are subject to annual inflation adjustments. The nonwaivable visa integrity fee applies to all temporary travelers issued a nonimmigrant visa, including business travelers, tourists, international students, exchange visitors and foreign workers.