This week was a bit quieter than last on the headline front, but there's still real movement. There are a few things that are critically important for you to be aware of this week. First: Three federal comment periods for rules that could potentially alter the landscape of the student to worker funnel for immigrations are coming up in November, a new Visa Bulletin finally dropped on Friday, and confirmation that a widely-rumored PERM rule is still on it’s way.
Of course, the "300,000 visas revoked" announcement made some waves that I don’t imagine will be settling anytime soon. I covered that here if you want an in-depth explanation.
Three Comment Deadlines
I have already covered this, each separately, and together so nothing new to add, just a reminder since the clock is moving now. Three separate proposals are open for public comment: the proposed $70,000 OPT fee closes Monday, November 9. The proposal eliminating the 60-day grace period for H-1B, L-1, O-1, TN, and E workers (not F-1 students directly) closes Tuesday, November 10. And the proposal ending H-1B extension "deference" closes Friday, November 13. Submitting a comment through regulations.gov is the one concrete thing you can do right now if any of these affect you. I posted all of the individual comment links in this post.
USCIS Wants More Time on Premium Processing
USCIS has proposed lengthening how long it's allowed to take on premium-processing requests for H-1B extensions, green card petitions, and OPT applications. Still at the very first stage of rulemaking, no draft numbers yet, nothing changes for anyone filing today. I wrote about this in more depth here.
The November 2026 Visa Bulletin
The State Department released the November bulletin Thursday. For India and China there is at least a little bit of good news on the Dates for Filing chart (the one USCIS says to use this round): For India, the EB-1 moved forward a full year, to July 1, 2024. China advanced the same amount. China's Dates for Filing sit at January 1, 2023 for EB-2, April 1, 2024 for EB-3 professional/skilled, and October 1, 2020 for EB-3 other workers. India EB-2 sits and EB-3 remains backlogged at January 15, 2015. If you’re an Indian national waiting in the EB-2/EB-3 lines, this is frustrating, but the good news is that it didn’t retrogress, so if you were current in October, there is still time for you to file in November
We are still waiting for updates on PERM "Modernization"
You may have heard some chatter this week that the DOL's proposed PERM overhaul is moving, but nothing has been released yet. The rule is still sitting at OIRA, where it's been since mid-September, with no published text and no comment period open. You may have seen some speculation based on what has been said, but without the actual text, it is thankless to attempt to come to any real conclusion.
TLDR
Be sure to go comment on the three proposals, separately, before November 9th, 10th, and 13th.
The new Visa Bulletin saw EB-1 India and China both move forward quite a bit; EB-2 and EB-3 India didn't move, and China still sits in the backlog as well.
PERM modernization still hasn't actually happened despite the rumor mill.
The State Department posted on X that they have revoked 300,000 visas since January 2025. You can read more about that here.
This post is for general information only and is not legal advice. For guidance on your specific situation, please consult a licensed immigration attorney or your school's DSO.
