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Following the implementation of new immigration-related fees under the H.R. 1 Reconciliation Bill (H.R. 1), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a new edition of Form G-1055, Fee Schedule on July 22 that updates filing and additional fees for various immigration-related forms.
Key Points:
Additional Information: According to USCIS, “certain forms require additional fees along with any filing fee. Additional fees are not eligible for fee waivers and must be paid by separate payment concurrent with any filing fee.”
USCIS also notes that “certain filers may qualify for a fee waiver for certain forms. To determine your eligibility for a fee waiver, please review Form I-912, Request for Fee Waiver.”
This alert has been provided by the BAL U.S. Practice Group.
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The Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has terminated the designation of Afghanistan for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) with TPS benefits no longer in effect as of July 22, 2025.
An order from the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit filed on July 21, 2025, denied an emergency motion to postpone the termination of Afghanistan’s TPS designation.
DHS previously announced it was terminating the designation of Afghanistan for TPS effective July 14, 2025. On July 14, the court temporarily blocked the termination, and DHS confirmed that TPS and Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) issued under the Afghanistan designation would remain valid through July 21, 2025. The July 21 court order allowed the termination to take effect while the litigation proceeds.
The Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) will permanently discontinue its fax services starting Sept. 1, 2025, as part of an ongoing digital modernization initiative to streamline document submission and communication processes. A list of the fax email addresses that will be discontinued can be found here.
Stakeholders are advised to transition to digital platforms such as FLAG or email to avoid disruptions in application processing. Submissions sent to the fax email addresses after Aug. 31, 2025, will be deemed invalid by OFLC and may result in delayed processing or denial of an application.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) posted an advance copy of a Federal Register Notice (FRN) implementing new immigration-related fees under the H.R. 1 Reconciliation Bill, a.k.a. the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (H.R. 1). The FRN is scheduled to be published July 22. In a news release published July 21, USCIS announced these fees will apply to certain immigration benefit requests postmarked on or after July 22, 2025.
Additional Information: H.R.1 was signed into law on July 4, 2025. Titles IX and X include various immigration-related provisions, in addition to new fees, as well as more than $140 billion allocated to border security and enforcement measures.
USCIS recently published a new edition of Form G-1055, Fee Schedule, removing fee waiver eligibility for Form I-131 for certain nonimmigrants.
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.
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.