The Biden administration on 7 July 2026 quietly filed its semi-annual Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions, offering a detailed road-map of every immigration-related rule it hopes to finalize or propose before year-end. Headline items include plans to tighten the H-1B programme, modernise the PERM labour-market test, raise prevailing wages, switch F/J/I admissions from “duration of status” to fixed end-dates, expand biometrics and rescind the current public-charge rule. For employers, the H-1B section is the immediate flash-point. A draft rule set for August would redefine which organisations are exempt from the annual cap, impose extra guard-rails on third-party placement, and create fast-track compliance audits for firms with prior violations.
![Biden Administration Publishes 2026 Immigration Regulatory Agenda, Signaling Major H-1B, PERM and Student Visa Overhauls]()
For companies, universities and travellers who need quick, reliable guidance as these changes roll out, VisaHQ’s online platform can streamline the entire visa and passport process—from document checklists to courier services—so stakeholders stay focused on strategy instead of paperwork. Explore the tools and country-specific resources at to see how the service can reduce lead times and help keep global mobility plans on track.
At the same time, USCIS wants to expand the so-called “50/50” surcharge—currently imposed only on initial H-1B/L-1 petitions—to extensions of stay, adding US $4,000 or US $4,500 to each filing for large, H-1B-dominant employers. Separately, DHS confirms that the wage-weighted selection system finalised in February will remain in place for the FY-2028 cap. The Department of Labor (DOL) is equally ambitious. A proposed rule this month would revamp 20-year-old PERM recruitment rules, mandating more digital advertising, stricter lay-off look-back checks and additional documentary evidence—steps likely to lengthen processing times already hovering around 480 days. DOL also signals that its March plan to lift prevailing wages to the 34th percentile will be finalised once comments are analysed, driving average salary requirements up an estimated 21–33 percent. On the student side, DHS is pressing ahead with an F/J/I “fixed-period admission” rule first floated last year. Under the final text now at OMB, most F-1 students would receive a four-year I-94 (or shorter, if the programme ends sooner) and would need to file extensions with USCIS rather than relying on the current grace periods. A separate February 2027 proposal may limit OPT, STEM OPT and CPT, threatening technology and finance employers that rely on international graduates. The regulatory agenda is neither self-executing nor set in stone, but it provides rare clarity on government priorities and likely timing. Employers have a short window—30–60 days after each proposal appears in the Federal Register—to submit comments that can shape final rules. Immigration counsel recommend budgeting now for higher wages and fees, auditing H-1B compliance and mapping out whether upcoming PERM changes could delay green-card strategies in 2027.
For companies, universities and travellers who need quick, reliable guidance as these changes roll out, VisaHQ’s online platform can streamline the entire visa and passport process—from document checklists to courier services—so stakeholders stay focused on strategy instead of paperwork. Explore the tools and country-specific resources at to see how the service can reduce lead times and help keep global mobility plans on track.
At the same time, USCIS wants to expand the so-called “50/50” surcharge—currently imposed only on initial H-1B/L-1 petitions—to extensions of stay, adding US $4,000 or US $4,500 to each filing for large, H-1B-dominant employers. Separately, DHS confirms that the wage-weighted selection system finalised in February will remain in place for the FY-2028 cap. The Department of Labor (DOL) is equally ambitious. A proposed rule this month would revamp 20-year-old PERM recruitment rules, mandating more digital advertising, stricter lay-off look-back checks and additional documentary evidence—steps likely to lengthen processing times already hovering around 480 days. DOL also signals that its March plan to lift prevailing wages to the 34th percentile will be finalised once comments are analysed, driving average salary requirements up an estimated 21–33 percent. On the student side, DHS is pressing ahead with an F/J/I “fixed-period admission” rule first floated last year. Under the final text now at OMB, most F-1 students would receive a four-year I-94 (or shorter, if the programme ends sooner) and would need to file extensions with USCIS rather than relying on the current grace periods. A separate February 2027 proposal may limit OPT, STEM OPT and CPT, threatening technology and finance employers that rely on international graduates. The regulatory agenda is neither self-executing nor set in stone, but it provides rare clarity on government priorities and likely timing. Employers have a short window—30–60 days after each proposal appears in the Federal Register—to submit comments that can shape final rules. Immigration counsel recommend budgeting now for higher wages and fees, auditing H-1B compliance and mapping out whether upcoming PERM changes could delay green-card strategies in 2027.
