DHS has not released a word of its new H-1B reform rule, but the paperwork it filed with the White House on August 24, 2026 already answers three useful questions: how big DHS thinks the rule is, how far behind schedule it has fallen, and when it could realistically take effect.
How big. The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs lists RIN 1615-AD00, Reforming the H-1B Nonimmigrant Visa Classification Program, as Economically Significant. Under the long-standing threshold, that designation signals an expected annual economic effect of at least $100 million. For comparison, the EB-5 fee rule sitting in the same queue since August 19 is marked not economically significant. DHS also listed the rule as Fully or Partially Exempt from Executive Order 14192, the deregulatory order requiring agencies to offset new rules by repealing existing ones, which removes a constraint that would otherwise force DHS to pay for this rule with cuts elsewhere.
How late. The rule appeared for the first time in the Spring 2025 Unified Agenda, where DHS set a target of December 2025 for publishing the proposed rule. It reached OMB in late August 2026, roughly nine months past that date. Regulatory timetables slip routinely, but the gap is worth noting for anyone trying to plan around this rule: DHS has consistently missed its own H-1B deadlines.
When it could bite. Several steps remain. OMB review of a significant rule typically runs up to 90 days and can be extended. After clearance, DHS would publish a notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register and open a comment period, normally 30 or 60 days. DHS would then have to read the comments, respond to significant ones, draft a final rule, and send that final rule back through OMB. Each of those steps has historically taken DHS months.
That sequencing matters because H-1B cap registration for fiscal year 2028 would open around March 2027. A rule that clears OMB in the fall, publishes as a proposal, and takes comments through the winter is unlikely to be final in time to govern that registration, though DHS has moved faster when it wanted to. The more likely target is FY 2029.
The practical guidance is the same as with any rule at this stage: nothing has changed yet, no filing requirement has been altered, and the rule text is not public. The comment period, when it opens, will be the first genuine opportunity for affected workers, universities, and employers to see the specifics and respond on the record.
Applicants who do not want their timeline governed by this rulemaking should note that employment-based immigrant petitions like the EB-2 national interest waiver and EB-1A run on an entirely separate track from H-1B cap regulation.
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