Headlines:
Cap Reached for Second Allocation of Returning Employee H-2B Visas for FY 2026 – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Providers has obtained sufficient petitions to succeed in the cap for the extra 27,736 H-2B visas made obtainable for the second allocation of returning staff for Fiscal Yr 2026 with employment begin dates from April 1 to April 30, 2026.
Work Authorization Revocation, Different Penalties Introduced for Unpaid Asylum Charges Underneath DHS Interim Ultimate Rule – Efficient Could 29, 2026, a Division of Homeland Safety interim ultimate rule will implement charges, necessities, and penalties for nonpayment of asylum-related charges below the H.R. 1 Reconciliation Act of 2025.
DOS Instructs Officers to Reject Nonimmigrant Visa Candidates Who Declare Concern of Returning to House Nations; Appeals Court docket Rejects Trump Admin’s ‘Invasion’ Proclamation Banning Asylum Claims at Border – The Division of State has instructed officers at diplomatic and consular posts to ask two questions of nonimmigrant visa candidates and refuse visa issuance if an applicant solutions “sure” to both of the questions. Additionally, a U.S. Court docket of Appeals dominated that President Trump’s Proclamation 10888 and associated steerage are illegal for banning asylum claims on the border.
OFLC Pronounces Lodging for Employers Affected by Hurricane in Northern Marianas – the Division of Labor’s Workplace of International Labor Certification introduced lodging for employers and their representatives affected by Hurricane Sinlaku within the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
DOL Seeks Feedback on Extension and Revision of CW-1 Utility for Short-term Employment Certification for Northern Marianas Employees – The Division of Labor seeks feedback on an extension and revision of the CW-1 Utility for Short-term Employment Certification for staff within the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
Particulars:
Cap Reached for Second Allocation of Returning Employee H-2B Visas for FY 2026
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Providers (USCIS) introduced on April 29, 2026, that it has obtained sufficient petitions to succeed in the cap for the extra 27,736 H-2B visas made obtainable for the second allocation of returning staff for Fiscal Yr (FY) 2026 with employment begin dates from April 1 to April 30, 2026, below the H-2B supplemental cap momentary ultimate rule. April 21, 2026, was the ultimate receipt date for petitions requesting supplemental H-2B visas below the second allocation. The extra H-2B visas are supposed to assist U.S. companies with seasonal or momentary workforce wants, together with these in crucial sectors of the U.S. economic system, USCIS stated.
On January 30, 2026, the Departments of Homeland Safety (DHS) and Labor collectively introduced the FY 2026 momentary ultimate rule, growing the cap on H-2B nonimmigrant visas by as much as 64,716 extra visas. “These supplemental visas are obtainable solely to U.S. companies which can be struggling irreparable hurt or will undergo impending irreparable hurt with out the flexibility to make use of the entire H-2B staff requested of their petition, as attested by the employer on a brand new attestation type,” USCIS famous.
Further info on the FY 2026 supplemental visas is on the market on USCIS’s Short-term Improve in H-2B Nonimmigrant Visas for FY 2026 web page.
Work Authorization Revocation, Different Penalties Introduced for Unpaid Asylum Charges Underneath DHS Interim Ultimate Rule
Efficient Could 29, 2026, a Division of Homeland Safety (DHS) interim ultimate rule printed on April 29, 2026, will implement charges, necessities, and penalties for nonpayment of asylum-related charges below the H.R. 1 Reconciliation Act of 2025 (“One Large Lovely Invoice Act”).
On July 22, 2025, USCIS printed a Federal Register discover implementing a submitting charge for Type I-589, Utility for Asylum and for Withholding of Elimination, and an Annual Asylum Payment (AAF) to be paid every calendar yr an asylum utility stays pending. The interim ultimate rule establishes that if the AAF is just not paid inside 30 days of notification, USCIS will reject the applicant’s pending asylum utility. If the applicant doesn’t have authorized standing in the US, USCIS may also provoke removing.
If USCIS rejects the asylum utility, the next extra penalties will apply:
The rule additionally implements extra necessities outlined in H.R. 1:
- Type I-589 submitting charge: USCIS will now maintain the submitting charge for Type I-589 if the company rejects the shape as improperly filed.
- Short-term Protected Standing (TPS) employment authorization: USCIS is updating rules limiting the employment authorization interval for these below TPS to at least one yr or the remaining TPS designation interval, whichever is shorter.
- Type I-102, Utility for Alternative/Preliminary Nonimmigrant Arrival-Departure Doc, submitting charge: The rule establishes a minimal $24 charge to file Type I-102, along with different required charges.
The interim ultimate rule is efficient Could 29, 2026. USCIS stated it’s going to reject any Type I-102 with out the correct submitting charge whether it is postmarked on or after Could 29, 2026. Moreover, USCIS will reject pending Type I-589 asylum functions for many who fail to pay the AAF efficient Could 29, 2026.
DHS will obtain public feedback submitted by June 29, 2026.
DOS Instructs Officers to Reject Nonimmigrant Visa Candidates Who Declare Concern of Returning to House Nations; Appeals Court docket Rejects Trump Admin’s ‘Invasion’ Proclamation Banning Asylum Claims at Border
Based on experiences, the Division of State (DOS) has despatched a cable to diplomatic and consular posts instructing officers to ask two questions of nonimmigrant visa candidates and to refuse visa issuance if an applicant solutions “sure” to both of the questions:
- Have you ever skilled hurt or mistreatment in your nation of nationality or final routine residence?
- Do you worry hurt or mistreatment in returning to your nation of nationality or everlasting residence?
The questions are components of asylum determinations. The cable states that “[a]n applicant’s worry of returning to his or her nation of nationality or everlasting residence calls into query an applicant’s supposed function of journey and immigrant intent on the time of visa utility.”
Additionally, the U.S. Court docket of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit dominated on April 24, 2026, that President Trump’s Proclamation 10888 and associated steerage, which state that “the present scenario on the southern border qualifies as an invasion” and that, subsequently, asylum claims on the border might be rejected, “are illegal insofar as they circumvent Congress’s rigorously crafted removing procedures and solid apart federal legal guidelines that afford people the chance to use and be thought-about for a grant of asylum or withholding of removing.”
OFLC Pronounces Lodging for Employers Affected by Hurricane in Northern Marianas
On April 21, 2026, the Division of Labor’s Workplace of International Labor Certification (OFLC) launched steerage on lodging for employers and their representatives affected by Hurricane Sinlaku within the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
OFLC’s Ceaselessly Requested Questions (FAQ) states that OFLC “acknowledges that Hurricane Sinlaku could have a major impression on companies and understands that some employers and/or their approved attorneys or brokers could not be capable to well timed reply to OFLC requests for info and different correspondence relating to the processing of functions or adjust to relevant deadlines. Accordingly, OFLC will grant extensions of time and deadlines for employers and/or their approved attorneys or brokers affected by Hurricane Sinlaku, together with for delays brought on by Hurricane Sinlaku and people who occurred because of companies getting ready to regulate their regular operations attributable to Hurricane Sinlaku.”
The FAQ additionally states that the company will proceed to contact employers and their approved attorneys or brokers primarily utilizing electronic mail and can use U.S. mail the place electronic mail addresses are usually not obtainable. OFLC reminded employers to routinely examine their electronic mail for info associated to their OFLC functions. Employers affected by web and energy outages could contact OFLC utilizing the telephone numbers listed within the FAQ, which incorporates extra particulars about lodging associated to points such because the prevailing wage, H-2B, CW-1, and PERM applications; results of worksite relocations for H-1B, H-1B1, and E-3 staff; and strategies of contact.
DOL Seeks Feedback on Extension and Revision of CW-1 Utility for Short-term Employment Certification for Northern Marianas Employees
On April 30, 2026, the Division of Labor (DOL) printed a discover requesting feedback on an extension and revision of the CW-1 Utility for Short-term Employment Certification for staff within the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
DOL stated the discover was “made mandatory by a statutory requirement for a CW–1 momentary labor certification. Extra particularly, [DOL] proposes to increase the Type ETA-9142C, Utility for Short-term Employment Certification and appendices, and Type ETA-9141C, Utility for Prevailing Wage Willpower, to hold out duties created for [DOL] below the Northern Mariana Islands U.S. Workforce Act of 2018.”
Feedback are due by June 1, 2026.
