Insights & Updates on EB-1A Green Card and U.S. Immigration

Across the country, immigrants with pending cases have been opening a one-page USCIS letter titled “FBI Privacy Requirements for Biometrics Collection by USCIS,” and many have feared the worst. Attorneys say the notice is a routine procedure and needs no reply. Read closely, though, it points to an important shift in terms of functional level. The fingerprint check that once ended at a biometrics appointment may now keep running long afterward. Here, our EB-1A experts have presented a detailed analysis of this notice and what it means paired up with the case.

A federal judge has dismantled the Justice Department’s nationwide effort to collect state voter registration records and screen them for noncitizens. The ruling also bars the department from using data that cooperating states had already handed over. The decision is the most sweeping court setback yet for the administration’s push to take a larger role in election administration, which the Constitution leaves largely to the states.

A federal judge in Washington has suspended a Trump administration policy that stopped immigration authorities from collecting fingerprints and photographs from detained immigrants with pending applications. Those biometric checks are a required step in applying for legal status. Without them, applicants were effectively barred from relief that Congress created for some of the country’s most vulnerable people. Here, our EB-1A experts have provided a detailed glimpse of this important news.

The Trump administration has widened its campaign against what it calls visa fraud. It has suspended eight major employers from the labor-certification process that leads to green cards, and it has subpoenaed nine elite universities over their use of exchange-visitor visas.

On October 7, 2026, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released a proposed rule that would make U.S. schools pay $70,000 before recommending an international student for Optional Practical Training (OPT), and $30,000 for each later recommendation. The notice was scheduled for Federal Register publication on October 8, and Murthy Law Firm stresses that the fees are not in effect. Even so, the figure has alarmed campuses, employers and students.

On September 29, 2026, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) issued a precedent decision, Matter of G-R-B-, 30 I&N Dec. 102. It holds that an Immigration Judge may pretermit an application for asylum and withholding of removal without a motion from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The ruling changes how asylum cases can end.

Artificial intelligence can draft a petition letter in seconds. It can also invent a court case in the same breath. In October 2026, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) showed what that mistake can cost, and a survey of court errors worldwide shows that even judges are not immune. This article explains why unverified AI use in an immigration profile or filing can hurt an applicant.

To begin with a familiar wit in the immigration circle, immigration lawyers and critics of the H-1B visa program have made the same complaint: the penalties for breaking the rules are cheaper than the rules themselves. A new bill in the U.S. House of Representatives is now designed to end this tradition. On October 1, 2026, Representative Beth Van Duyne of Texas introduced H.R. 10643, formally titled "H–1B Visa Fraud Crackdown Act." Its stated purpose, per the bill text filed with Congress, is to increase penalties for certain violations of the H–1B non-immigrant visa program.

On Thursday, October 1, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a dispute over a Trump administration policy that subjects millions of immigrants who entered the country illegally to mandatory detention during their deportation proceedings, according to Reuters. The justices will take up the case in the term that begins Monday. The outcome could decide whether many detained people ever get to argue before a judge that they should be released. Here, our EB1A consultants have presented a detailed background and analysis of this important piece of news.

Immigration attorneys are raising concerns about H-1B extension petitions filed for employees of some of the largest sponsors of foreign workers, among them are Microsoft, Cognizant and Infosys. What worries them most is the silence from federal agencies. Neither USCIS nor the Department of Labor has explained why some cases are taking so long. Our EB-1A consultants have presented a deep dive into this important news and touched upon what the applicants can expect regarding H-1B extension.

A second federal judge has struck down the $100,000 fee on new H-1B workers, and with it the September 2026 proclamation that renewed it. U.S. District Judge Haywood S. Gilliam Jr. found the policies arbitrary and capricious and ruled they were legislative rules that required public comment first. In plain terms, the government cannot create a charge of this size through agency memos and guidance without asking the public. Once again, our EB-1A consultants have overviewed this important piece of news in great detail.

Some U.S. immigration fees are rising again, though only by small amounts. On September 30, 2026, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced inflation adjustments to certain fees created by the 2025 budget law known as H.R. 1. The agency describes the adjustments as "minor." The new amounts take effect on October 16, 2026. Here, our EB-1A consultants have presented a clear summary of the change in prices and highlighted who will have to comply with the changed prices.