In the first two weeks of December, the U.S. administration has introduced sweeping and significant changes in immigration policy. Our Business & Corporate Immigration practice at Tarter Krinsky & Drogin will be monitoring these new developments as we head into 2026, particularly as they apply to employers and foreign nationals. 

Below is a summary of key updates -

• Expanded social media vetting for H-1B/H-4, F M and J visa applicants globally, resulting in the cancellation of visa appointments and postponements at some consular posts until well into 2026.
• Employment authorization document validity reduced from five years to eighteen months, including for applicants for adjustment of status. This would include family-based applicants and employment-based visa applicants.
• Higher level scrutiny of employment based and family-based adjustment of status of interviewees based on place of birth and nationality.
• Reports of ICE arrests at some marriage-based green card interviews for immediate relative of U.S. citizens in the case where applicants had overstayed or violated the terms of their visa.
• A proposal by USCIS with advance notice in the Federal Register that the U.S. government through U.S. Customs and Border Protection will impose additional scrutiny on foreign nationals entering the United States on the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) program
  • Scrutiny will include disclosure on the ESTA visa application requesting details concerning social media, email accounts and disclosing extensive family history and contacts for a 5-year period prior to application.
  • The proposal will cover all ESTA program participants including approximately 40 European and Asian countries, including Japan and Australia, who might wish to enter the United States for a period of up to 90 days on the visa waiver program. The full listing of countries participating in ESTA may be found here: Visa Waiver Program
  • Additionally, U.S. Customs and Border Protection states that it intends to update the ESTA application website to require that applicants provide photos of their face in addition to the photo on their passport biographical page. It further indicates it will develop an ESTA APP for completion of the application. Changes do not apply for Canadian citizens, who are also visa exempt and are admitted to the United States for periods of up to six months on each entry. See the Federal Register link here: 2025-22461.pdf.
• Pauses on asylum decisions and immigrant benefits for applicants, including Afghans and nationals of the 19 travel ban countries. 
  • Consequences of this pause will halt issuance of employment authorization documents for applicants, thus curtailing, limiting or ending the individual’s ability to continue to work in the United States as employment authorization documentation will not be renewed.
• The President issues an Executive Order for the “Trump Gold Card” and “Trump Platinum Card” – USCIS has issued regulations conforming to the Executive Order with instructions for filing. The I140 Immigrant petition may be filed under the EB-1A Extraordinary Ability (first preference) category or the EB-2B National Interest Waiver (second preference) category. Instructions for the filing include a $15,000.00 filing fee per family member and a $1 million dollar filing fee per family member. Corporate sponsorship for the Trump Gold Card entails a 2 million payment, plus filing fee to the U.S. Treasury Department. Link to the instructions and form may be found here: Form I-140G, Instructions for Immigrant Petition for the Gold Card Program. As with many Executive Orders, we expect to see upcoming litigation in this initiative spearheaded by the administration.
• On Friday, December 12^th, 20 states, led by California’s Rob Bonta, filed a lawsuit against the administration challenging its imposition of the new $100,000.00 fee for certain H-1B petitions, claiming that the fee is illegal overreach, harming critical sectors of the economy including tech and healthcare and burdens employers. It is already expected that the H-1b lottery filing period will look very different this coming spring, with many IT companies, including Tata and others not participating and opening up opportunities for smaller employers to participate in the lottery.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:

The Tarter Krinsky & Drogin team will continue to monitor changes to immigration policy and provide updates as additional information becomes available.