Four separate immigration changes take effect within nine days of each other next month, and several of them turn on the date a filing is postmarked rather than the date it is decided. For anyone with a pending or planned case, September 2026 is less a month than a series of cutoffs. Here is the calendar, with what actually changes on each date.
Sept. 9 — the $4,000 H-1B and $4,500 L-1 surcharge reaches extensions. DHS is closing an interpretation that let some covered employers avoid the fee when an H-1B or L-1 employee simply continued working for the same company. From Sept. 9, covered employers — those with at least 50 U.S. employees where more than half the U.S. workforce holds H-1B, L-1A or L-1B status — owe $4,000 on H-1B petitions and $4,500 on L-1 petitions when filing an extension, not just a new or transferred petition. By its own regulatory text the surcharge applies to petitions filed on or before Sept. 30, 2027. Sept. 9 is also the day the El Salvador TPS program ends, which caps the work-permit extension USCIS granted to affected holders.
Sept. 15 — “duration of status” ends, and two core forms change. The final rule replacing D/S with a fixed period of admission for F, J and I nonimmigrants takes effect. On the same day USCIS publishes new 09/15/26 editions of Form I-765 (work authorization) and Form I-539 (extend or change nonimmigrant status), and — unusually — grants no grace period. The prior editions, 08/21/25 for I-765 and 08/28/24 for I-539, will be rejected if postmarked or e-filed on or after Sept. 15. A rejection is not a filing, so it will not preserve status or prevent a gap in work authorization.
Sept. 18 — the public charge standard broadens. With the 2022 rule rescinded, officers will no longer be limited to weighing cash assistance and long-term institutionalization. A wider range of benefits, including Medicaid, food assistance and housing vouchers, can be weighed case by case in the totality of circumstances. Cases filed before Sept. 18 are judged under the current framework; cases filed on or after that date are not.
Oct. 1 — the fiscal year resets. Employment-based annual limits refill when FY2027 begins. EB-2 India is Unavailable for the remainder of FY2026, having exhausted its per-country allocation, so no EB-2 immigrant visas can be issued to Indian-born applicants until the new fiscal year opens.
The common thread is timing, not eligibility. Where a filing is ready now, the earlier date is usually the safer one; where it will not be ready until mid-September, the right move is to wait for the correct form edition rather than send the old one and hope. Confirm each form’s edition date on uscis.gov before signing.
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