Author: Foster
On December 23, 2025, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced a new rule to revise the H-1B cap-registration selection process. The new final rule replaces a purely random selection with a system that will increase the probability of selection for higher-paid foreign nationals. The new framework will weigh entries based on the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) wage levels I–IV. Registrations assigned to wage level IV will enter the H-1B lottery pool four times, while level III will enter three times, level II will […]
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has published the monthly Visa Bulletin for January 2026. Until January 1, the December 2025 Visa Bulletin remains in effect. The Visa Bulletin contains the DOS’s Final Action Dates chart, which lists the priority dates that are current in each respective category, the categories that are current during the applicable month […]
On December 10, 2025, the Trump Gold Card program officially went live. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) also posted a new application form, Form I-140G, Immigrant Petition for the Gold Card Program. Pursuant to Executive Order 14351, the Trump Gold Card offers permanent residence to individuals who make a mandatory “gift” of […]
On December 12, 2025, U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) updated its policy regarding the reuse of photographs for immigration benefit requests. The policy change replaces prior COVID-era flexibilities and previous rules that allowed photographs to be reused for up to 10 years or more. The change will also disallow self-submitted physical photographs and require all photographs to be taken at a USCIS Application Support Center (ASC) or through an […]
