Executive briefings, policy analysis, and actionable guidance written for general counsel, HR directors, and founders, not for lawyers. Every piece carries its primary sources and the date it was accurate.
Divorce does not cancel a conditional green card, and it does not cancel a Form I-864 Affidavit of Support. Here is how the good faith marriage waiver works, what divorce does to the naturalization timeline, and why the sponsor's support duty survives the divorce decree.
Prarup Ghimire, Esq.Accurate as of September 25, 2026ICE has proposed a $70,000 fee for a student's first Optional Practical Training recommendation and $30,000 for every later one, payable by the school before the recommendation can be entered in SEVIS. Comments close November 9, 2026.
Lidice Samper, Esq. in collaboration with Kloss MartinoAccurate as of October 21, 2026A startup can run Form I-9 and E-Verify in house, but H-1B, O-1 and L-1 petitions create employer attestations, public access files and Department of Labor exposure that are hard to manage without counsel. Here is what a compliant program looks like in 2026, and where outside help earns its cost.
Samper Law in collaboration with Kloss MartinoAccurate as of September 25, 2026Yes: a mandamus and APA complaint in federal district court can ask a judge to order USCIS to decide a delayed case, and the government generally has 60 days to respond. What the lawsuit can and cannot get you, how cases usually end, what they cost, and when filing is a mistake.
Maeve Healy, Esq.Accurate as of September 25, 2026Starting October 23, 2026, USCIS will give the next business day only to paper filing deadlines counted in days, such as RFE responses and appeals. A filing that must be made before someone turns 21 has to arrive before the birthday, even if it falls on a weekend or holiday. Electronic filings get no extra day at all.
Prarup Ghimire, Esq.Accurate as of October 19, 2026On October 14, 2026, DHS finalized without change the rule that ended the automatic extension of up to 540 days for EAD renewals filed on or after October 30, 2025. The H-4 spouses who won in court argued DHS skipped notice and comment. DHS has now answered 653 comments. What changes for employers, and what does not.
Daniel Lopez, Esq.Accurate as of October 19, 2026Most L-1A managers and executives reach a green card through EB-1C: an employer-filed Form I-140 under 8 CFR 204.5(j), with no PERM labor certification. The rules look like the L-1A rules, but they are not identical, and a prior L-1A approval does not bind USCIS.
Samper Law in collaboration with Kloss MartinoAccurate as of September 29, 2026A founder's realistic U.S. options are the O-1A, the E-2 treaty investor visa, and two self-petitioned green cards, EB-1A and the National Interest Waiver, with International Entrepreneur Parole as a narrower alternative. Here is how they compare, and which founder each one fits.
Lidice Samper, Esq.Accurate as of September 29, 2026Between September and mid-October 2026, the federal government added, proposed or litigated six separate costs on hiring and keeping foreign talent. Some are in force, some are blocked, some are proposed. A finance view of what to budget, what to model as a scenario, and what to watch.
Samper Law in collaboration with Kloss MartinoAccurate as of October 13, 2026Three questions decide most investor visa cases: is your nationality on the E-2 treaty list, how much capital can you commit, and do you need a green card. This guide walks through each and ends with a decision table.
Lidice Samper, Esq. in collaboration with Kloss MartinoAccurate as of September 29, 2026A DHS proposed rule publishing October 14, 2026 would delete the regulation that tells USCIS officers to defer to a prior approval when the same employer files an extension for the same worker on the same facts. Comments are due November 13. DHS's own numbers show what it would cost employers in time.
Daniel Lopez, Esq.Accurate as of October 13, 2026I-9 paperwork violations currently carry civil fines of $288 to $2,861 per form, and knowingly hiring or continuing to employ unauthorized workers runs from $716 to $28,619 per worker. Why the 2025 amounts still apply in 2026, how ICE sets a fine, and how to run a self audit without making things worse.
Maeve Healy, Esq.Accurate as of September 25, 2026EB-1A carries a higher evidentiary bar but usually a shorter wait for Indian and Chinese nationals; NIW is easier to prove, although as of the October 2026 Visa Bulletin EB-2 has a final action date for every country while EB-1 remains current for most. Here is the side by side comparison, the current Visa Bulletin numbers by country, and when to file both.
Daniel Lopez, Esq.Accurate as of September 29, 2026Since October 1, 2026, the State Department's online presence review covers TN, TD and I visa applicants, who are instructed to set every social media profile to public. For employers, the exposure is concentrated in Mexican TN hires and the families of TN workers.
Prarup Ghimire, Esq.Accurate as of October 6, 2026On October 8, 2026, the Vice President and the Secretary of Labor announced that the Department of Labor will not accept or process permanent labor certifications for eight employers under federal investigation. The workers most exposed are H-1B employees approaching six years without a green card filing. Every other sponsor should read this as a warning about recruitment and layoffs.
Lidice Samper, Esq.Accurate as of October 13, 2026A lawsuit filed October 5, 2026 in the District of Massachusetts challenges two USCIS policies: a May memo that presumes denial of adjustment of status absent unusual or outstanding equities, and the August policy allowing denial without a request for evidence. Both remain in effect while the case proceeds.
Maeve Healy, Esq.Accurate as of October 6, 2026On September 30, 2026, a federal court in San Francisco vacated the agency policies that collect the $100,000 H-1B payment and barred their use under both the original proclamation and the extension through September 2027. The proclamation itself stands. Here is what employers can and cannot rely on.
Daniel Lopez, Esq.Accurate as of October 13, 2026Most people held by ICE get out through a bond hearing before an immigration judge, and the bond cannot be set below $1,500. When ICE or the immigration court says no hearing is allowed, the answer is a habeas corpus petition in federal district court, and in Massachusetts the First Circuit has now sided with detainees who entered without inspection.
Maeve Healy, Esq.Accurate as of September 25, 2026The EB-5 minimum is $800,000 in a targeted employment area or infrastructure project and $1,050,000 elsewhere, with 10 full-time jobs required per investor. Here is how the amounts, the job rules, the set-aside visas and the January 1, 2027 inflation adjustment fit together, and what drives the timeline.
Lidice Samper, Esq. in collaboration with Kloss MartinoAccurate as of September 29, 2026USCIS published its EB-5 fee rule in final form on September 30, 2026. The initial regional center investor petition goes from $3,675 to $7,850 for any package postmarked on or after November 30. Two regional center fees fall on the same date, so for sponsors the deadline runs in the opposite direction.
Lidice Samper, Esq. in collaboration with Kloss MartinoAccurate as of September 30, 2026Yes: a national interest waiver lets an EB-2 professional with an advanced degree or exceptional ability self-petition for a green card with no job offer and no labor certification. To get there, you must first clear the EB-2 threshold and then satisfy all three prongs of Matter of Dhanasar.
Daniel Lopez, Esq.Accurate as of September 29, 2026Consular officers read E-2 business plans to answer two questions: will this enterprise survive, and will it be more than marginal? The narrative matters less than whether the numbers hold together.
Samper Law in collaboration with Kloss MartinoAccurate as of October 5, 2026Since the fall of 2025, most E-2 applicants must interview in person and apply in their country of nationality or residence. Add the January 2026 travel proclamation, and consular strategy has become part of the case.
Lidice Samper, Esq.Accurate as of October 5, 2026E-2 dependents have more flexibility than most families expect, and one hard limit most families discover too late. What spouses and children can and cannot do, and how to plan around age 21.
Lidice Samper, Esq.Accurate as of October 5, 2026An EB-5 investment must be genuinely at risk. Redemption rights, debt arrangements, and guaranteed buybacks have disqualified investors for nearly three decades, and the statute now says so directly.
Lidice Samper, Esq. in collaboration with Kloss MartinoAccurate as of October 5, 2026An EB-5 investment is two decisions at once: an immigration filing and a private placement. Most investors diligence the first and trust the second. A finance checklist for the investment side.
Lidice Samper, Esq. in collaboration with Kloss MartinoAccurate as of October 5, 2026The Gold Card program asks for a $1 million gift to the Treasury and rests on an executive order now in federal litigation. EB-5 asks for an investment and rests on a statute. Investors should compare them on legal footing, not just price.
Lidice Samper, Esq. in collaboration with Kloss MartinoAccurate as of October 5, 2026A Notice of Inspection gives an employer at least three business days to produce its Forms I-9 and supporting records. What you produce, what you must never do, and how the notices that follow work, day by day.
Maeve Healy, Esq.Accurate as of September 25, 2026Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Americans will be able to apply for their first passport entirely online starting next year, through the new America.gov. Here is what was actually announced, what is still unknown, and what newly naturalized citizens, families and employers should do in the meantime.
Lidice Samper, Esq.Accurate as of September 29, 2026The first bulletin of fiscal year 2027 brings EB-2 India and EB-5 unreserved India back from unavailable, but moves EB-2 and EB-3 backward for most of the world. Here are the October dates against September, the State Department's retrogression note, and what employers, self-petitioners, investors and families should do now.
Lidice Samper, Esq.Accurate as of October 5, 2026The E-2 treaty investor visa has no minimum investment. What it has is a proportionality test, an at risk requirement and a marginality rule, and four illustrative businesses show how those three tests decide how much is enough.
Lidice Samper, Esq. in collaboration with Kloss MartinoAccurate as of September 25, 2026A federal court in California has set aside the rule ending automatic EAD extensions, but only for the seven H-4 spouses who sued. For every other renewal applicant, the rule remains in force, and employers should keep running reverification exactly as before.
Daniel Lopez, Esq.Accurate as of October 19, 2026Proclamation 11069, signed September 18, extends the $100,000 H-1B entry payment for another 12 months, to September 21, 2027. It says nothing about the court judgment that has kept the payment from being collected, and the proposed $103,265 fee would be charged on top of it.
Daniel Lopez, Esq.Accurate as of September 24, 2026A proposed rule published September 11 would remove the 60-day grace period for E, H-1B, L-1, O-1 and TN workers. If it is finalized, the termination date becomes the status termination date. Comments are due November 10, 2026.
Lidice Samper, Esq.Accurate as of September 25, 2026You qualify for EB-1A if you meet at least three of ten regulatory criteria (or hold a major, internationally recognized award) and the record as a whole shows you are among the small percentage at the very top of your field. Here is each criterion, the evidence USCIS actually credits, and how the Kazarian two-step review decides the case.
Daniel Lopez, Esq.Accurate as of September 29, 2026The E-2 treaty investor visa has no fixed dollar threshold, which means consular officers apply judgment. Three tests decide most cases: substantial, at risk, and not marginal.
Lidice Samper, Esq.Accurate as of September 17, 2026The two investor paths are routinely compared on price. The better comparison is nationality, control, timeline, children's ages, and what the family needs the status to do in five years.
Lidice Samper, Esq.Accurate as of September 17, 2026Most EB-5 requests for evidence are not about the project. They are about the money. How to reconstruct where investment capital came from, and how it moved, the way an auditor would.
Lidice Samper, Esq. in collaboration with Kloss MartinoAccurate as of September 17, 2026Regional center petitions filed on or before September 30, 2026 keep statutory protection if Congress lets the program lapse. That protection is narrower than most marketing suggests, and a rushed filing can forfeit it.
Lidice Samper, Esq.Accurate as of September 17, 2026DHS removes the 2022 public charge framework effective September 18, 2026. Applications postmarked or filed electronically on or after that date are judged under officer discretion instead of the old definitions. Two lawsuits are pending in the Southern District of New York, and neither has stopped the rule.
Prarup Ghimire, Esq.Accurate as of September 24, 2026On September 14, 2026, a federal court postponed the effective date of the DHS rule replacing duration of status with fixed admission periods. The rule did not take effect on September 15. It was not struck down, and the planning work it forced is still worth doing.
Daniel Lopez, Esq.Accurate as of September 16, 2026The 50/50 fee reached same-employer extensions on September 9: $4,000 per H-1B renewal and $4,500 per L-1 for covered employers. The window to file ahead of it has closed.
Daniel Lopez, Esq.Accurate as of September 11, 2026Proclamation 10973's $100,000 H-1B fee is not being collected, but it did not expire: Proclamation 11069 extended it to September 21, 2027. DHS has proposed a broader replacement: $103,265 payable at filing on every cap-subject petition.
Daniel Lopez, Esq.Accurate as of September 2, 2026EB-2 India is marked unavailable in the September 2026 Visa Bulletin, closed for the remainder of FY2026. Annual limits reset October 1, but a fiscal-year reset does not fix a structural backlog.
Daniel Lopez, Esq.Accurate as of September 2, 2026ICE moved roughly fifteen categories of I-9 error from technical to substantive on March 16, 2026 by editing a web page. Each one is now immediately fineable at $288 to $2,861 per form.
Maeve Healy, Esq.Accurate as of September 2, 2026USCIS restored officers’ full discretion to deny petitions outright on August 5, 2026, without first issuing an RFE. The twelve-week response period is gone, and the change applies to everything already pending.
Lidice Samper, Esq.Accurate as of September 2, 2026DHS eliminated the automatic EAD extension on October 30, 2025 and cut maximum validity to eighteen months. Against a 10.2-month I-765 backlog, green card applicants will stop being able to work.
Daniel Lopez, Esq.Accurate as of October 19, 2026Project Firewall lets the Secretary of Labor personally certify reasonable cause and open an H-1B investigation with no complaint at all. By November 2025, DOL indicated at least 175 were underway.
Maeve Healy, Esq.Accurate as of September 2, 2026Nearly every nonimmigrant visa applicant must now appear in person, including children under 14 and applicants over 79. H-1B, L-1 and O-1 renewals that qualified for dropbox a year ago no longer do.
Prarup Ghimire, Esq.Accurate as of September 24, 2026The EB-5 minimum investment adjusts for inflation on January 1, 2027, the first adjustment since the 2022 Reform and Integrity Act. The statutory trigger is the date your petition is filed.
Lidice Samper, Esq. in collaboration with Kloss MartinoAccurate as of September 2, 2026Most delay suits against USCIS lose. The ones that win share identifiable features, and TRAC factor four, the line-jumping argument, is now doing almost all of the work in federal court.
Maeve Healy, Esq.Accurate as of September 2, 2026This article is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice, nor does it create an attorney-client relationship. Immigration law and agency policy change frequently; the analysis above reflects our understanding as of the date noted. Readers should consult counsel regarding their specific circumstances.