The federal government released its 2026 Unified Regulatory Agenda on July 7, 2026, and immigration attorneys are calling it one of the most consequential rulemaking roadmaps in years. The Departments of Homeland Security (DHS), Labor (DOL), and State each published agendas laying out the rules they intend to propose or finalize over the coming months — and many of them would directly affect employment-based applicants, international students, and green-card seekers.
For H-1B workers, DHS has flagged an H-1B reform proposal targeted for August 2026 that would narrow eligibility for cap exemptions (currently available to universities and qualifying research organizations), tighten rules on third-party worksite placements, and impose greater scrutiny on employers found to have violated program requirements. This comes on top of the already-finalized weighted, wage-based selection process for the annual H-1B lottery.
International students face their own set of pending changes. DHS’s long-delayed “Duration of Status” rule — which would replace open-ended F-1 and J-1 admission periods with fixed end dates — cleared regulatory review on June 16, 2026, and a final rule is described as imminent. Separately, proposed amendments to Optional Practical Training (OPT), STEM OPT, and CPT are now slated for February 2027, and are expected to restrict how long graduates can work after finishing their studies.
Employment-based green-card applicants should watch the labor side closely. DOL is preparing a major overhaul of the PERM labor certification process — the first in over two decades — alongside a proposed rule to raise prevailing wage levels for the H-1B, H-1B1, E-3, and PERM programs. The State Department, meanwhile, is moving to make its B-1/B-2 visa bond pilot program permanent. DHS also lists a final rule anticipated this summer that would formally eliminate the 540-day automatic extension of Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) for timely renewal filings — a change already in effect under an interim rule since late 2025.
Most of these are still at the proposal or planning stage, meaning public comment periods and, in some cases, litigation lie ahead before anything becomes final. But the agenda makes the administration’s direction unmistakable: tighter eligibility, more employer oversight, and higher costs across nearly every category. Applicants and employers should prepare filing strategies now rather than waiting for individual rules to drop.
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Source: Web - Federal Regulatory Agenda (Fragomen / Ogletree)