Plain-language guides to USCIS case status, processing, and the immigration process.
Since July, applicants for U.S. visitor visas in Mexico, Canada, Colombia, Guatemala, Costa Rica and Honduras can pay an extra $750 to get an interview within 10 business days. The fee buys an earlier appointment and nothing else: no refund, no rescheduling, no better odds. Here's who can use it, how it works, and the other visitor visa rules that can surprise applicants this year.
Since August 11, 2026, USCIS can make any form that has been available online for 180 days an online-only form, with 60 days' public notice. No form has been switched yet. Here is what the rule requires, how the $25 hardship waiver works, and what changes when you file online instead of by mail.
The rule that would have replaced "duration of status" with fixed admission dates was blocked the day before it took effect, so the old system still applies. At the same time, SEVP has told schools that CPT must be a required part of the curriculum for every student. Here is what that means for you this semester.
On September 14, 2026, USCIS published new guidance on referring naturalized citizens for denaturalization. It doesn't change who can lose citizenship, but it does spell out how cases are found, including through petitions naturalized citizens file for relatives, and which ones go first. Here is what it says, and what it doesn't.
Three different H-1B charges are in the news at once: a $100,000 payment that was just renewed but is blocked by a court, a proposed $103,265 fee on every cap-subject petition, and a 9-11 fee that now applies to more extensions. Here is which ones are in effect, who they apply to, and what it means for workers and students.
For years, filing an EAD renewal on time meant you could keep working while USCIS decided it. For most categories, that ended with renewals filed on or after October 30, 2025, and many new cards now last only 18 months. Here is how the rules work now and how to keep a gap from costing you your job.
USCIS changed several forms in quick succession this fall, and one of the changes was then reversed by a court. Here is which editions of the I-485, I-864, I-765 and I-539 are accepted right now, what the new sponsor credit check means, and the signature mistakes that can now cost you your fee.
If you lose an H-1B, L-1, O-1, TN or E job today, you still have up to 60 days to find a new sponsor or change status. A September 11 proposal would take that away, leaving no time at all. Here is how the grace period works now, what the proposal would change, and what to do in the first week after a layoff.
For the first time since the early 1990s, USCIS is doing neighborhood investigations of citizenship applicants: interviewing people who know you where you live and work. It can waive them, and it tells applicants what can help. Here is what the new guidance says, and how to write reference letters that meet it.
