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...
DHS Proposes $70,000 OPT Fee and $30,000 STEM OPT Fee
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...
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...
Aug242026
On August 25, 2026, the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that would impose a $103,265 fee on H-1B cap-subject petitions. The timing is not a coincidence. It comes one month after the First Circuit refused to let the government reinstate the $100,000 fee created by last September’s presidential...
Aug212026
Snapshot: USCIS has released a policy memo providing guidance regarding the new public charge rule that will be implemented on September 18, 2026 Your filing date will determine if the new rule applies to you Any benefits received before September 18 mostly will not count, do not drop coverage in a panic After September 18,...
On July 17, 2026, DHS published a final rule ending duration of status for F-1 students, replacing it with a fixed admission period capped at four years. I wrote about what that means for Day 1 CPT here. Less than a month later, on August 12, 2026, SEVP issued Broadcast Message BCM 2608-01, “Reminder of...
The New F-1 Rule Ending Duration Of Status: What It Means For Day 1 CPT By Chris Prescott, Partner, PSBP Law On July 17, 2026, DHS published a final rule eliminating “duration of status” (D/S) for F-1 students and replacing it with a fixed period of admission, capped at four years, effective September 15, 2026....
Jul272026
On July 2, 2026, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), published a formal proposed rule to codify the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (RIA). The RIA is a statute that Congress enacted in March 2022, and its core provisions, including investment thresholds and regional center reforms,...