POLICY & ANALYSIS
Follow U.S. immigration policy, filing changes and official announcements.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is issuing policy guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual to clarify the signature requirements that apply when submitting immigration benefit requests.
To keep the public informed regarding the submission and assignment of H-2B applications for review, the Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) is publishing the Assignment Groups for 2,625 H-2B applications covering 51,158 worker positions with a work start date of October 1, 2026 received during the July 3-5 filing period. OFLC completed the randomization process on July 6, 2026. Due to the number of applications filed and the number of worker positions requested, cases were randomized into two groups, assignment group A (1,881 cases) and assignment group B (744 cases). Cases in Group A are being assigned to the National Processing Cener analysts for issuance for Notices of Acceptance or Deficiency. Group A includes enough worker positions to reach the H-2B semi-annual visa allotment of 33,000. One additional Assignment Group was created for the remaining applications and associated worker positions. Each filing was randomly given a unique number in accordance with OFLC's randomization process and placed into a group for assignment to analysts for review and processing.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is opening an asylum office in Atlanta. Beginning July 8, 2026, the Atlanta Asylum Office will conduct interviews for affirmative asylum applicants at three locations.
The Office of Foreign Labor Certification has published the latest prevailing wage data from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) as generated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the new wage year from July 2026 through June 2027. These wages are effective on July 1, 2026. Prevailing wage determinations issued from the National Prevailing Wage Center reflect the 2018 SOC codes.
The Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) reminds employers and other interested stakeholders that the three-day filing window to submit an H-2B Application for Temporary Employment Certification (Form ETA-9142B and appendices) requesting a work start date of October 1, 2026, will open on July 3, 2026, at 12:00 a.m. Eastern Time, and close on July 5, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time. This three-day period is the earliest an employer may file an application for an October 1, 2026, work start date, which is the first day of the semi-annual visa allotment for the first half of Fiscal Year 2027. Employers seeking start dates of October 2, 2026, or later must comply with the timeliness requirements at 20 CFR 655.15(b).
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is issuing policy guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual to implement the regulatory change to the requirement on how long a nonimmigrant religious worker (R-1) must remain outside the United States after reaching the 5-year statutory maximum period of stay.
On May 26, 2026, Alexandra Lozano resigned from the State Bar of Washington in lieu of discipline and is permanently barred from practicing law in Washington.
The Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) received the 2026 Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) Prevailing Wage Study survey from the Governor of the CNMI for the CW-1 program. OFLC has approved the 2026 CNMI Prevailing Wage Study survey for 408 occupations and will issue updated CW-1 prevailing wages using this data from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027. The updated wage table includes prevailing wage data for a total of 848 occupations.
On November 15, 2021, the Employment and Training Administration issued a Federal Register notice (FRN) informing the public that the Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) was updating Appendix A to the Preamble–Education and Training Categories by Occupational Information Network (O*NET)–Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) Occupations. Appendix A is a list of professional occupations that serves as a guide for employers to distinguish between professional and non-professional occupations in order to comply with the professional recruitment requirements of the PERM program. The FRN stated that OFLC intends to review BLS’s occupational and education data each year to publish a new list of occupations on its website, even when BLS data remain the same from the previous year.
On June 5, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island issued an order in Dorcas International Institute of Rhode Island, et al. v. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, et al., 26-cv-00132-JJM-PAS (D.RI.), vacating PM 602-0192, PM 602-0194, and PA 2025-26.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services opened an additional asylum office location in San Antonio, Texas. Beginning May 28, 2026, aliens who filed for asylum with USCIS who reside in the jurisdiction of the Houston Asylum Office may be interviewed at either the Houston Asylum Office or the San Antonio Asylum Office.
The Department of Homeland Security posted a Federal Register notice on the six-month automatic extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Lebanon, from May 28, 2026, through Nov. 27, 2026. Under the TPS statute, if the secretary of homeland security does not decide whether a country still qualifies for TPS at least 60 days before the country’s TPS designation expires, its TPS designation is automatically extended for six months.
