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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced today that is has updated its Policy Manual to reduce the maximum validity period for which USCIS will grant Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) for certain categories of foreign nationals.
Key Points:
Additional Information: BAL will continue to monitor related policy developments and provide updates.
This alert has been provided by the BAL U.S. Practice Group.
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The Department of Homeland Security received emergency approval on Nov. 19 from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to implement Form I-140G, the immigrant petition for the Gold Card program.
Additional Information: BAL will continue to monitor related developments and provide updates. Interested employers and individuals can connect with BAL’s Gold Card team.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a Federal Register notice (FRN) on Nov. 28, 2025, “newly terminating” the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti effective Feb. 3, 2026.
Additional Information: BAL will continue to monitor related developments on this matter and provide updates.
The State Department updated its webpage, U.S. Visa and Travel Information for FIFA World Cup 26 Fans, with preliminary information on the FIFA Priority Appointment Scheduling System (PASS).
Additional Information: The State Department advises that “all visitors traveling to the United States are required to be in possession of passports that are valid for six months beyond the period of their intended stay in the United States, unless they are a citizen of an exempt country.”
Canadian and Bermudan passport holders do not require any additional authorization for U.S. entry as tourists.
Foreign visitors from any of the 42 countries who participate in the Visa Waiver Program can apply using the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA). Visitors from all other countries are required to have a valid B-1/B-2 visitor visa.
The Department of Homeland Security published notice of the termination of the designation of Burma (Myanmar) for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), effective Jan. 26, 2026.
Additional Information: DHS estimates that there are 3,969 current approved beneficiaries under the designation of Burma for TPS.
Burma was initially designated for TPS on May 25, 2021, based on extraordinary and temporary conditions. Following the initial designation, the existing designation was extended and newly designated for TPS in 2022, and again from May 26, 2024, to Nov. 25, 2025.
The State Department updated global visa wait times on Nov. 20, 2025.
The average wait times reported do not guarantee a visa applicant will get an appointment within a specific time. U.S. embassies and consulates regularly release additional appointment slots. Applicants who want an earlier appointment slot after initially scheduling their interview should check back frequently and move their appointment to another slot if available.
November 2025 global visa wait times chart highlights
Excerpted below are chart highlights from the latest global visa wait times of some of the cities/posts that historically have the most visa issuances. Work visa (H, L, O, P, Q) and student/exchange visitor visa (F, M, J) wait times for next available interview appointments mostly remained the same month over month across these highlighted cities/posts. However, New Delhi saw a substantial reduction in F, M and J visa next available appointment wait times from 2 months to 0.5 months. Next available appointment wait times for Shanghai H, L, O, P and Q visas nearly tripled from <0.5 months to 3 months compared with the October global visa wait time report.
Chennai (Madras) saw interview-required B-1/B-2 average wait times move from 5 months to “N/A” and interview-required next available appointments decreased from a 5-month wait to a 3-month wait compared with the October report. New Delhi also saw wait times for B-1/B-2 interview-required visas halved from 6.5 months to 3.5 months compared with the October report.
The cities/posts with the longest average wait times for B-1/B-2 interview required visas are Toronto (16.5 months), San Jose (13 months), Lagos (12.5 months), Merida (11.5 months) and Ottawa (11 months).
Although wait times for next available appointments for petition-based work visas requiring an interview overall range from less than 0.5 months to 3 months, there are some outliers. Canada’s cities/posts had some of the longest average wait times for “interview-required petition-based next available appointments for work visas” (H, L, O, P, Q) for this report’s time period: Ottawa (4.5 months), Quebec (4.5 months) and Vancouver (4 months).
Additional Information: More details on the different visa categories referenced in the table can be found here. Wait times are calculated in months in 30-day increments and half-months in 15-day increments. Average wait times are provided for B-1/B-2 visas only in cases where the next available appointment is more than three months away.
Applicants are reminded that post-specific instructions are available on the website of the U.S. embassy or consulate where the applicant schedules their interview. Links to U.S. embassies and consulates can be found here. Applicants should be aware there may be limitations on how many times they can reschedule an appointment. Appointment calendar access for a specific post may not be accessible until the DS-160 visa application has been submitted and the required fee has been paid. (The fee is typically nontransferable across countries.)
Embassies and consulates may waive the in-person interview requirement for eligible applicants. Wait times for these appointments are not reflected in the visa wait timetables. Please check the individual U.S. embassy or consulate website to find out if a waiver of the in-person interview is available. Interview waiver eligibility was last updated on Sept. 18 and became effective Oct. 1.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced inflationary adjustments to certain immigration-related fees mandated under the H.R. 1 Reconciliation Bill (H.R. 1), aka One Big Beautiful Bill Act, for fiscal year (FY) 2026. The Federal Register Notice (FRN) published today outlines the adjusted fees and their effective date on or after Jan. 1, 2026.
Additional Information: BAL will continue to monitor related developments and provide updates as more details become available.
Pursuant to a Nov. 12, 2025, ruling by a federal district court, while further litigation is pending, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will accept certain EB-5 visa program fees that were in effect until March 31, 2024, emphasizing, “Petitioners and applicants should pay fees according to the ‘Current Fee’ schedule, not the higher ‘Previous Fee’ schedule.”
Additional Information: DHS and USCIS stated they “believe the Court’s decision is incorrect but are working to implement it.”
BAL will continue to monitor related developments and provide updates.
Today, the Department of Homeland Security published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) in the Federal Register that proposes to “rescind the 2022 public charge ground of inadmissibility regulations.”
Additional Information: Under President Trump’s first administration, in 2019 DHS made sweeping changes to public charge inadmissibility determinations that were later vacated in court. Under the Biden administration, on Sept. 9, 2022, DHS published a final rule to codify pre-2019 guidance related to the “public charge” ground of inadmissibility.
Publication of the NPRM is the first step in the formal rulemaking process. Changes will not take effect until DHS issues a final regulation with a specified effective date. The agency is required to consider comments from the public in formulating the final rule. BAL will continue to monitor related developments and provide updates.
The U.S. State Department has released the December 2025 Visa Bulletin. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced filings for employment-based visa preference categories must use the Dates for Filing chart in the December bulletin, which continues to show no movement across all EB visa categories, an expected outcome impacted by the government shutdown from Oct. 1 to Nov. 12, 2025.
The Dates for Filing chart indicates who is eligible to submit their application and supporting documents for further processing, even if the green card itself is not available. Review BAL’s employer’s guide to reading the Visa Bulletin to better understand this monthly report.
Dates for Filing chart category movement:
EB-1 visa
EB-2 visa
EB-3 visa
EB-5 visa (unreserved)
Dates for Filing Chart for Employment-Based Visa Applications
Additional Information: Final Action cutoff dates for issuance of an immigrant visa or approval of an adjustment of status application for the December Visa Bulletin can be found here.
Regarding when it will designate the use of either the Dates for Filing chart or the Final Action Dates chart per each monthly Visa Bulletin, USCIS states, “If USCIS determines there are more immigrant visas available for a fiscal year than there are known applicants for such visas, we will state on this page that you may use the Dates for Filing chart. Otherwise, we will indicate on this page that you must use the Final Action Dates chart to determine when you may file your adjustment of status application.
“However, if a particular immigrant visa category is ‘current’ on the Final Action Dates chart or the cutoff date on the Final Action Dates chart is later than the date on the Dates for Filing chart, applicants in that immigrant visa category may file using the Final Action Dates chart during that month.”
The State Department guidance on designating the Dates for Filing chart states, “The chart reflects dates for filing visa applications within a timeframe justifying immediate action in the application process. Applicants for immigrant visas who have a priority date earlier than the application date in the chart may assemble and submit required documents to the Department of State’s National Visa Center, following receipt of notification from the National Visa Center containing detailed instructions.
“The application date for an oversubscribed category is the priority date of the first applicant who cannot submit documentation to the National Visa Center for an immigrant visa. If a category is designated ‘current,’ all applicants in the relevant category may file, regardless of priority date. The ‘C’ listing indicates that the category is current, and that applications may be filed regardless of the applicant’s priority date. The listing of a date for any category indicates that only applicants with a priority date which is earlier than the listed date may file their application.”
Diversity Visa Lottery 2026 (DV-2026) and 2027 updates: The December Visa Bulletin provides DV-2026 program allocated cutoff numbers per region for December and January. It reports that certain regulatory amendments will “further reduce the DV-2026 annual limit to approximately 52,000. DVs are divided among six geographic regions. No one country can receive more than seven percent of the available diversity visas in any one year.”
According the Bulletin, “Entitlement to immigrant status in the DV category lasts only through the end of the fiscal (visa) year for which the applicant is selected in the lottery. The year of entitlement for all applicants registered for the DV-2026 program ends as of September 30, 2026.” DV-2026 Entrants are encouraged to keep their confirmation number until at least September 30, 2026.
Prior Bulletins have stated that “Dates for the DV-2027 program registration period will be widely publicized in the coming months. Those interested in entering the DV-2027 program should check the Department of State’s Diversity Visa web page in the coming months.”