On October 14, 2026, the Department of Homeland Security published a final rule permanently ending the automatic extension of most Employment Authorization Documents (EADs). If your renewal is still pending when your card expires, you may have to stop working until USCIS approves it. Here is what changed, who is affected, and what you can...
Employment-Based Immigration
The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa category that allows U.S. employers to temporarily employ foreign workers in specialty occupations. This visa is highly sought after by skilled professionals from around the world, as it provides a pathway to work and potentially pursue permanent residency in the United States. However, it is crucial for H-1B...
Since January 17, 2025, a foreign national who owns a controlling interest in a U.S. company can be the beneficiary of an H-1B petition filed by that company. We secured our first H-1B self-petition approval in 2025 and have been filing these cases since. The same questions come up in nearly every consultation, so I’ve...
DHS has now turned to OPT. In a proposed rule published October 8, 2026, ICE would require schools to pay $70,000 for every F-1 student who receives initial OPT, and another $30,000 for any subsequent OPT period, including the 24-month STEM extension. If the school doesn’t pay, the DSO can’t enter the OPT recommendation in...
When USCIS processing runs long, an H-1B employee’s I-94 can expire while their petition is still pending. In many cases, the employee can keep working legally during that wait, but the employer has to update Form I-9 correctly to show it. The rules depend on what kind of H-1B petition you filed. Below, we walk...
Many people assume you need millions of dollars or a green card to own and run a business in the United States. You don’t. We recently helped an entrepreneur from Canada get an E-2 Treaty Investor visa for himself, his spouse and their two children, so the family can move to Texas and build his...
We get this question a lot from employers. The certified LCA lists $85,000. The employee has been paid $100,000 for two years. Business slows, a major account goes away, and the employer asks the obvious question: can we go back down to the $85,000 we certified? Usually the answer is no. The LCA wage is...
One day before it was set to take effect, a federal district court blocked the DHS rule ending “duration of status” (D/S) for F-1, J-1, and I nonimmigrants. On September 14, 2026, Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV (D. Mass.) entered a nationwide preliminary injunction barring DHS and ICE from implementing the rule while the litigation...