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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.
Key Points:
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.
This alert has been provided by the BAL U.S. Practice Group.
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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.
The Department of Homeland Security announced the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for both Honduras and Nicaragua, effective Sept. 8, 2025.
Additional Information: Approximately 72,000 Honduran nationals and 4,000 Nicaraguan nationals (or non-U.S. citizens having no nationality who last habitually resided in Honduras or Nicaragua) hold TPS under their respective country designation.
The Labor Department posted the latest processing times for permanent labor certification (PERM).
As of July 1, the department was adjudicating PERM applications filed in March 2024 and earlier and reviewing appeals for reconsideration filed in May 2025 and earlier.
These dates reflect the month and year in which cases were filed and are currently being adjudicated. The Reconsideration Request date for reviewing appeals reflects the month and year in which cases that are currently being reviewed were appealed. For various reasons, the Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) may be completing the processing of applications filed prior to the month posted.
These dates reflect the amount of time to process applications. Actual processing times for each employer’s PERM application may vary from the average depending on material facts and individual circumstances of the case. OFLC is reporting the average processing time for all PERM applications for the most recent month.
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a notice for a proposed rule to rescind several provisions from its April 29, 2024, final rule governing the H-2A visa program.
Additional Information: The H-2A visa program allows U.S. agricultural employers to hire foreign nationals for temporary or seasonal work when domestic labor is insufficient. The April 2024 rule was initially introduced to strengthen worker protections and improve oversight of employer practices.
The DOL encourages feedback from both employers and worker advocacy groups to ensure the final rule reflects a fair and effective framework for the H-2A program.
Public comments can be submitted through Sept. 2, 2025 here.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will only accept the Jan. 20, 2025, edition of Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker starting July 30, 2025.
Until July 30, petitioners can also use the Jan. 17, 2025, edition (edition dates are located at the bottom of the form page).
Form I-129 is filed on behalf of temporary nonimmigrant workers to obtain a certain visa classification (e.g., H-1B, H-2A, H-2B, H-3, L-1, O-1, O-2, P-1, P-1S, P-2, P-2S, P-3, P-3S, Q-1 or R-1) or to request an extension of stay in or change of status to certain visa classifications.
More information on Form I-129, including instructions, fees and filing tips can be found here.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti effective Sept. 2, 2025.
Additional Information: In February, DHS rescinded Haiti’s extended TPS designation, shortening it to Aug. 3, 2025. The official notice for Termination of the Designation of Haiti for Temporary Protected Status was published in the Federal Register on July 1, 2025.
The U.S. Embassy Jerusalem’s latest security alert states that Ben Gurion airport is now open and that the Israel Airport Authority has lifted restrictions on incoming/outgoing flights and the number of passengers on each flight.
U.S. citizens are advised to check for seat availability on El Al, Arkia, Air Haifa and Israir.
Additional information on airlines, border crossings and security precautions can be found here.
Starting July 1, 2025, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will no longer send short message service (SMS), also known as text messages, from the number 468-311 (GOV-311). The new official SMS number will be 872466 (USAIMM).
This change affects all USCIS text communications, including case status updates, appointment reminders and security notifications. Recipients should be cautious of messages purporting to be from the USCIS that do not originate from the new number and update contact records accordingly to avoid confusion or missed notifications. USCIS does not direct message through social media platforms.