Corporate Immigration Law News

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has announced that the Fiscal Year 2027 H-1B cap has been reached. USCIS has received enough H-1B cap-subject petitions to meet the annual numerical limits: 65,000 H-1B visas under the regular cap and 20,000 additional visas under the U.S. advanced-degree exemption, commonly referred to as the “master’s cap.”

The FY 2027 cap season was the first to operate under USCIS’s new weighted selection process for cap-subject H-1B petitions. Unlike the prior random lottery, the new process gives greater weight to registrations associated with higher-skilled and higher-paid positions, using the applicable Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics wage level as part of the registration process. Employers therefore should expect H-1B cap planning to be increasingly tied to compensation strategy, job classification, worksite location, and prevailing wage analysis. See full Client Alert details here.

If you have any questions please contact: Anthony F. Siliato, Scott R. Malyk, or Stacey A. Simon.

The Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) has issued a final rule replacing the longstanding “duration of status” admission framework for certain nonimmigrants with fixed periods of authorized stay. The rule affects individuals in F student and J exchange visitor classifications, as well as related dependents. DHS announced the rule on July 16, 2026, and the rule was published in the Federal Register on July 17, 2026, at 91 Fed. Reg. 44976. The stated effective date is September 15, 2026, though the Federal Register notice explains that the rule is classified as a major rule subject to congressional review, and DHS will publish a further notice if the effective date changes or if the rule is terminated.

For full details and practical implications, see the full Client Alert here.

If you have any questions please contact: Anthony F. Siliato, Scott R. Malyk, or Stacey A. Simon.