Following the 08.Jun.2026 court decision vacating the $100,000 H1B payment requirement, DHS has announced that it will comply with the order while considering its next steps. As things stand, employers appear able to proceed with affected H1B filings without the additional fee, subject to any...
A welcome development for EB1A applicants: the government has dropped its appeal of Mukherji in the Eighth Circuit. The broader challenge to USCIS’s “final merits” approach remains litigated elsewhere, so this is an important step, but not yet a nationwide resolution. https://www.murthy.com/2026/01/29/district-court-rules-uscis-use-of-final-merits-determination-in-eb1a-petitions/...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has published a temporary final rule (TFR) creating a new $750 fee that will allow certain business and tourism visa applicants to secure an expedited visa interview appointment. The TFR is effective from 01.Jul.2026 through 31.Dec.2026. The new service...
Answer To preserve and use a PERM PWD in a PERM case, at least one qualifying advertisement must be posted before the PWD expires. If the PWD expires before at least one advertisement is posted, the employer will need to obtain a new PWD and restart...
A federal district court in Massachusetts has ruled that the government’s policy implementing President Trump’s 19.Sep.2025 Proclamation imposing a $100,000 supplemental payment requirement for certain H1B petitions is unlawful and vacated the policy in its entirety. In State of California et al. v. Mullin et...
A federal judge has struck down the Trump Administration’s $100,000 fee on new H1B petitions, ruling that the fee is an unauthorized tax....
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has issued an interim final rule giving officers the discretion to deny, rather than simply reject, a benefit request found to have an invalid signature after the case has been accepted for processing. Why this Matters Previously, requests with invalid signatures...
On 05.Jun.2026, the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island vacated USCIS policies that imposed a hold on asylum and immigration-benefit adjudications for applicants from the Travel Ban / “high-risk” countries, including the 01.Jan.2026 memorandum extending the hold to additional countries....
An overview of employment-based green card options in the EB1 category is offered by Murthy Law Firm attorneys in this podcast recommended for U.S. employers of foreign nationals, broadcasted 03.Jun.2026. Topics include Extraordinary Ability, Outstanding Professor / Researcher, and Multinational Executive.The MP3 is available here...
Answer While the reported U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reversal and clarification are encouraging, it remains unclear how the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will apply the guidance in the memo. Adjustment of status (AOS) remains a discretionary benefit, and USCIS officers will continue...
