This Week in U.S. Immigration: What Actually Changed (October 5–9, 2026)
This week has been a doozy in U.S. Immigration: a bill to substantially increase penalties for H-1B employer fraud was introduced in Congress, a proposal that would likely upend the F-1 OPT program if approved, and the government just suspended green-card processing for eight major employers, including four of the Indian IT companies a lot of you may work for, and opened a fraud investigation into nine universities' student-researcher visas. That's a lot in a year, much less a week.
Some Republican Congress Members Want Bigger Fines for H-1B Fraud
On Monday, we covered Rep. Beth Van Duyne's H-1B Visa Fraud Crackdown Act (H.R. 10643), introduced October 1st. Quick recap: this would raise the penalties employers face for H-1B fraud and worker displacement, general fraud fines go from $5,000 up to $100,000, and fines tied to displacing a U.S. worker go from $35,000 up to $250,000. Debarment (getting banned from the visa system) goes from 2-3 years up to a flat 5 years for standard violations, or 10 years if worker displacement is involved. There's also a quieter provision raising general document-fraud penalties under a separate statute, which actually applies more broadly than just H-1B cases.
The important thing to remember: this is a bill, not a law, and fewer than 4% of bills ever become law. This was introduced with five Republican cosponsors and hasn't had a committee vote. It penalizes employers, not workers, and nothing here changes anything for you personally unless and until it passes.
We also addressed a myth that was circulating this week: a claim that there are no H-1B interview slots available at U.S. consulates in India until 2027. That's false, and is based on a recycled January story. Actual State Department wait-time data from late September shows petition-based visa appointment waits running 1 to 5.5 months depending on the consulate.
The Dignity Act Is Still Just a Bill, Too
Similar to the H-1B Visa Crackdown bill, the Dignity Act (H.R. 4393) has also had no new legislative action. It was introduced back in July 2025, and the most recent real news cycle around it was GOP infighting back in April. If it ever moves, the provisions worth watching are a jump in the per-country green card cap from 7% to 15%, an exemption for dependents from that cap, a $20,000 ten-year fast-track option, explicit dual intent for F-1 students, a change to how OPT income is taxed, and a presumption of eligibility for O-1 visas for STEM PhDs. As a mentioned before, it is very difficult for a bill to become a law, so do not use your precious energy planning on anything written into this at this point.
The OPT Fee Proposal Is Now Officially Open for Comment
On Wednesday, DHS finally released the proposal to charge a new fee for OPT. On Thursday, the proposal was formally published in the Federal Register, which is the step that actually opens the official public comment period, comments on the policy itself are due November 9, 2026. Comment here!
The fee amounts, if finalized as proposed are a staggering $70,000 for initial OPT and $30,000 for each subsequent STEM OPT period. One detail that seems to be missing in the headlines: this would be paid by your SEVP-certified school, not billed directly to you, but that cost can be passed onto your school or employer.
Now, remember: proposed is not final. Nothing changes for anyone currently on OPT If you want to weigh in, please go comment. The comment period is open through November 9th.
DOL Suspended Green-Card Processing for 8 Companies
On Thursday, the Department of Labor, flanked by VP Vance, who heads the administration's Anti-Fraud Task Force, announced that it has suspended Permanent Labor Certification (PERM) processing for eight companies: Microsoft, Adobe, Cognizant, Infosys, TCS (Tata Consultancy Services), Wipro, HCL Technologies, and Capgemini. PERM is the labor-certification step, one of the first steps in the employer-sponsored green card process.
What's actually happening: DOL will not accept any new PERM applications from these eight employers, and it will stop processing their pending PERM applications. The stated legal basis is a regulation (20 CFR 656.31(b)) that lets DOL pause processing during a fraud investigation, initially for up to 180 days, extendable while the investigation continues. This ties directly back to September's executive order directing agencies to weigh recent layoffs when reviewing H-1B-related filings; Labor Secretary Sonderling framed this as the enforcement follow-through on that order.
What's NOT happening: Existing H-1B visas are not cancelled. Already-approved green cards and I-140 petitions are not revoked. This is not a ban on these companies filing H-1B petitions generally, new hire filings and extensions continue separately. If you already have an approved I-140 or an unaffected pending case, this announcement by itself will not impact it.
Who's actually affected: Only employees who have a PERM case pending or you were about to file one, that case is now frozen, potentially for months, with no guaranteed end to that. If you work anywhere else, this doesn't currently apply to you, though we'd be lying if we said "currently" wasn't doing some work in that sentence.
One thing worth sitting with: Amazon is, by DOL's own numbers, the single largest employer of H-1B workers in the country, and it's not on this list. Nobody official has explained why. That's not us being cynical; it's just something worth being aware of. Nasscom, India's IT industry association, pushed back on the panic a bit, saying the number of PERM-dependent employees at the affected Indian firms is relatively limited relative to those companies' total U.S. headcount. Take that with the appropriate grain of salt, they have their own reasons to project calm.
The same announcement included a second, legally distinct action, the Labor Department's Inspector General opened an investigation into alleged J-1 visa fraud at nine universities (Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Brown, Pitt, UC Davis, Caltech, Arizona State, and MIT), with subpoenas already served. J-1 is the exchange-visitor category used mostly by visiting researchers and scholars, it is not the same category as F-1 student status or H-1B. If you're an F-1 student or an H-1B holder, this specific investigation is not about your visa category, even though it was announced in the same breath and is easy to lump in with everything else.
New This Week: The Approval-Rate Story Is More Complicated Than "Everything's Getting Harder"
USCIS's own numbers (Q3 FY2026, covering April–June) show two green card categories moving in opposite directions, which matters if you've seen vague "approval rates are collapsing" posts going around.
EB-1A (extraordinary ability) approval rates fell again, to 32.2%, the lowest on record, continuing a six-straight-quarter decline from 74.7% just a year and a half ago. There is panic around this, but I would be interested to see how the number of submissions has changed as well.
However, the critical caveat here is that this is likely the result of a few distorting factors: a surge of rushed "panic filings" from tech workers fleeing H-1B instability is saturating the pool with borderline cases, while flat agency output means USCIS is only finalizing a fraction of total submissions. Because standard timelines are choked, these rapid-fire denials are heavily concentrated among high-stakes, Premium Processing cases scrutinized under strict, expedited deadlines. This means that the 32.2% rate reflects a stressed, hyper-filtered backlog rather than the viability of a truly solid case.
But EB-2 NIW (national interest waiver) approval rates actually climbed to 55.3%, the third consecutive quarterly increase, up from a record low of 35.7% two quarters ago. If you've been assuming every category is universally getting harder, that's not what the data shows right now. These are two different standards reviewed differently, and right now they're trending in opposite directions. Precision matters here: don't let an EB-1A statistic scare you off an NIW case, or vice versa.
TLDR
H.R. 10643 (H-1B fraud penalties bill): This is still just a bill. It would impact employers' fines and debarment terms, not workers (directly).
Dignity Act (H.R. 4393): Also no real movement this week despite the chatter. Don't plan around any of its provisions yet.
OPT fee proposal: officially open for public comment through November 9, 2026. Proposed fee would be paid by your school, not you (again…directly). The statement does imply that the cost could be passed on to you or your employer. Nothing changes for current OPT holders unless and until this is finalized. This proposal is open for comment now.
DOL's PERM suspension (Microsoft, Adobe, Cognizant, Infosys, TCS, Wipro, HCL, Capgemini): This only matters to you, directly, if your green card sponsorship runs through one of these eight employers' PERM filings. If so, expect delays, possibly for months, and talk to an attorney about your specific case and timeline (especially if you're watching an H-1B clock). If you work elsewhere, there's no new action affecting your case today, but keep an eye on this, since the list could in theory expand.
J-1 university investigation: a different visa category than F-1 or H-1B. Don't let this one scare you if you're not on a J-1.
EB-1A vs. EB-2 NIW approval data: don't assume "approval rates are falling" applies evenly across categories. Talk to your attorney about which standard actually fits your case before reading too much into either stat alone.
As always, please don't make a major decision about your visa, your job, or your green card filing based headlines, or blog posts, including ours. Get guidance on your specific situation from a trusted, experienced immigration attorney before you act on any of this.
This post is for general information only and is not legal advice. For guidance on your specific situation, please consult a licensed immigration attorney.
