Dear Clients and Colleagues,
We hope this newsletter finds you well. In this edition, we bring you important updates on various immigration matters. Please take a moment to review the following key highlights:
November 2026 Visa Bulletin: Family Dates Jump a Year; USCIS Accepts Dates for Filing
On October 22, 2026, the State Department released the November 2026 Visa Bulletin. It features one-year advances in several family-sponsored categories for Worldwide, China, and India, alongside more modest employment-based gains. No retrogressions are reported.
Family-based
- F1 final action dates moved forward a full year for ROW, China, and India (January 22, 2020 to January 22, 2021). Mexico moved two weeks, and the Philippines remains at November 1, 2013.
- F2A final action dates advanced one month for every country.
Employment-based
- EB-2 final action dates for China and India remain at October 1, 2021 and November 1, 2013, respectively. The EB-5 set-aside categories remain current.
- The Dates for Filing chart is unchanged, except EB-3 Other Workers, which advances one month to July 1, 2022 for all countries except China, India, and the Philippines.
Which chart can you use to file an I-485 in November?
USCIS will use the Dates for Filing chart for both family-sponsored and employment-based categories. Applicants may file if their priority date is earlier than the Dates for Filing cutoff for their category and country. USCIS can approve the case only once the priority date is current under the Final Action Dates chart.
Takeaway: Clients with a priority date that is not yet current for approval may still be able to file, which can open the door to work and travel authorization. Contact our office to review your priority date and filing options.
IMMIGRATION ALERT: U.S. Embassies Intensify Public-Charge Questioning at Immigrant Visa Interviews
Immigrant visa applicants should be prepared for significantly more detailed questioning about their ability to support themselves financially in the United States and avoid future dependence on public benefits.
Questionnaires and interview-preparation materials provided by several U.S. embassies—including France, Kingston, Madrid, and Doha—show consular officers focusing closely on an applicant’s housing, employment prospects, health and health insurance, age, family circumstances, assets, debts, previous use of public assistance, and the credibility and financial capacity of sponsors and joint sponsors.
The basic message to immigrant visa applicants is clear: be prepared to explain not merely who is sponsoring you, but how you and your family will realistically support yourselves after immigrating to the United States.
The France questionnaire, for example, tells applicants to be prepared to discuss how they will cover their living expenses and avoid relying on public benefits.
Key Questions Applicants Should Be Ready to Answer:
1. Where Will You Live?
Applicants may be asked:
- Where exactly will you live in the United States?
- Do you already have a specific address?
- If housing has not been arranged, how will you find it?
- Who else will live in the household?
2. How Will You Support Yourself?
Working-age applicants should be prepared to explain:
- What type of work they intend to perform;
- Their education, training and previous work experience;
- Whether additional licenses, certifications or training will be required;
- Who will financially support them while obtaining those qualifications;
- Whether they have begun looking for employment; and
- Their expected first-year salary.
3. What Is Your Health Insurance Plan?
Health coverage is receiving particular attention. Applicants may need to explain:
- Whether they already have insurance that will cover them in the United States;
- Whether they can join a family member’s private health insurance;
- What alternative insurance they intend to purchase; and
- The expected monthly premium.
Some questionnaires go further and ask about existing medical conditions, anticipated treatment and how those medical expenses will be paid.
4. What Assets—and Debts—Do You Have?
Applicants should be prepared with evidence concerning:
- Bank accounts and cash;
- Investments;
- Stocks and bonds;
- Real estate and home equity;
- Retirement funds or pensions;
- Other income-producing assets;
- Mortgages;
- Credit-card debt;
- Auto or personal loans; and
- Other financial obligations.
The Doha questionnaire even asks whether assets are liquid or illiquid, whether they are jointly owned, whether they can independently be sold or transferred, and whether the applicant has sufficient emergency resources.
5. Have You Ever Received Public Assistance?
Applicants may face questions about both current and previous reliance on public assistance.
The Kingston questionnaire asks whether the petitioner or beneficiary currently receives, or previously received, government-funded assistance and specifically references social welfare, food banks, WIC and SNAP. It also asks about previous institutionalization at government expense.
Applicants who previously received assistance may need to explain how their circumstances have changed and why they are unlikely to depend on public benefits after admission.
6. Older Applicants May Face Additional Scrutiny:
Age can become an important part of the inquiry.
The Doha questionnaire asks whether an applicant is likely to obtain employment and whether the applicant has enough working years remaining before retirement to accumulate savings or qualify for Social Security, Medicare, pension or other retirement benefits. It also asks about retirement benefits available from the applicant’s home country.
For applicants who may not work, the inquiry can therefore shift toward retirement income, pensions, savings, property, health coverage and family support.
7. Family Size and Medical Needs Matter:
Applicants may be asked:
- How many dependents they have;
- Whether any dependent has a disability or chronic medical condition;
- Whether anyone requires long-term care;
- How treatment will be paid for; and
- For applicants without family caregivers, how they intend to care for themselves as they age.
8. Joint Sponsors May Be Examined More Closely:
Having a qualifying joint sponsor may not end the inquiry.
Questions may address:
- The sponsor’s relationship with the applicant;
- How long the sponsor has known the petitioner and beneficiary;
- Whether the sponsor actually has resources available to assist the immigrant;
- Whether the sponsor has previously sponsored other immigrants;
- The number and pattern of prior sponsorships; and
- Whether the sponsor has personally received public assistance.
What Immigrant Visa Applicants Should Do Now:
Applicants should prepare for the public-charge component of the consular interview almost as carefully as they prepare the underlying immigrant visa case.
Depending on the applicant’s circumstances, useful documentation may include evidence of U.S. housing arrangements, employment prospects, résumé/CV, education and professional qualifications, bank and investment statements, property ownership, pension and retirement accounts, sponsor financial records, health-insurance coverage or quotations, and evidence explaining how significant medical expenses would be paid.
The Doha materials specifically advise applicants to bring supporting documents such as bank statements, proof of assets, retirement information, sponsor financial records, CVs, relocation plans and medical records when relevant.
Bottom Line:
The emerging consular practice reflected in these questionnaires indicates that immigrant visa applicants should not assume that an approved petition and a sufficient Form I-864 alone will resolve every financial-support concern.
Applicants should be prepared to present a coherent and well-documented picture showing where they will live, how they will earn or obtain income, how medical expenses will be covered, what assets and liabilities they have, who will support them if necessary, and why they are unlikely to become dependent on public benefits in the United States.
BREAKING: Court Orders State Department to Open FY 2027 Diversity Visa Lottery
A federal district court has ordered the U.S. Department of State to open registration for the FY 2027 Diversity Visa (DV) Lottery by midnight ET on November 1, 2026, after the program had remained paused since December 2025.
Under the preliminary injunction, the State Department must:
- By October 29: Publicly announce the DV-2027 registration dates, official registration website, and eligibility requirements.
- By November 1: Open DV-2027 registration for 30 days.
- By December 3: Notify selected applicants following the close of registration.
- Continue processing FY-2027 DV immigrant visas until the annual allocation is exhausted or September 20, 2027, whichever occurs first.
The decision was issued in Red Eagle Law, L.C. v. Rubio, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. The federal government may appeal the ruling.
Prospective applicants should begin preparing now and watch for the State Department’s official DV-2027 registration announcement.
GREEN CARD ALERT: TN and E-3 Workers Can Pursue Employment-Based Green Cards — But Timing Is Critical
Foreign professionals working in the United States in TN or E-3 status can pursue employment-based permanent residence, including through the PERM labor certification, Form I-140, and ultimately Form I-485 adjustment of status or immigrant visa consular processing.
However, TN and E-3 cases require careful planning because these classifications are temporary nonimmigrant categories and do not provide the same clear dual-intent protection available to H-1B and L-1 workers.
PERM: An employer may generally begin and complete the PERM labor certification process while the employee continues working in TN or E-3 status.
I-140: After PERM approval, the employer may file Form I-140. An approved employment-based immigrant petition is an important step toward permanent residence, but TN/E-3 holders should obtain immigration advice before international travel, visa renewal, or seeking readmission because the immigrant case may become relevant to the government’s assessment of their nonimmigrant intent.
I-485: When the priority date becomes eligible for adjustment, the worker may be able to file Form I-485 in the United States. This is the most sensitive stage. Once adjustment is filed, international travel and maintenance of underlying status must be carefully planned. Applicants should consider obtaining an Employment Authorization Document and Advance Parole and should not assume that travel or reentry in TN or E-3 status will remain straightforward.
Consular Processing: Another strategy is to complete PERM and I-140 while maintaining TN or E-3 status and pursue the immigrant visa through a U.S. consulate when the priority date becomes current. Employment-based immigrant visa processing generally follows I-140 approval and visa availability.
How to Protect Your Green Card Case
The key is planning before filing and before traveling. TN and E-3 workers should coordinate the timing of PERM, I-140, extensions, visa renewals, international travel, I-485 filing and consular processing. In appropriate cases, changing to H-1B or L-1 status before the final green-card stage may provide a more flexible path.
Once an employment-based I-485 has been pending for 180 days or more, certain EB-1, EB-2 and EB-3 applicants with qualifying approved I-140 petitions may also be able to change employers under AC21 portability, provided the new position is in the same or similar occupational classification.
Bottom line: Being in TN or E-3 status does not prevent an employment-based green card, but the case should be strategically structured from the beginning to protect both the worker’s temporary status and the permanent-residence process.
VISA ALERT: What H-1B, E-3, TN, O-1 and L-1 Applicants Should Consider at the U.S. Consulate
Obtaining USCIS petition approval does not automatically guarantee visa issuance at a U.S. consulate. Employment-based visa applicants should be prepared to clearly explain their employer, position, qualifications, work location and the actual nature of their U.S. employment.
H-1B: Be ready to explain your job duties, degree and experience, salary, work location, employer’s business and how the position qualifies as a specialty occupation. Applicants working at a client site should understand the project, end client, work location and their employer’s role.
E-3 and TN: These applicants should be particularly prepared to establish that the position qualifies for the requested professional classification, that they possess the required credentials, and that their intended stay is temporary. Unlike H-1B and L classifications, most other temporary-worker applicants may need to demonstrate their intent to depart after their authorized stay.
O-1A and O-1B: Applicants should know the basis for their extraordinary-ability or extraordinary-achievement petition and be able to explain their field, major accomplishments, proposed U.S. work, petitioner and upcoming engagements.
For an agent-based O-1, preparation is especially important. The applicant should understand who the petitioning agent is, the relationship between the agent and beneficiary, the employers or entities for whom services will be performed, contracts and the itinerary of engagements. USCIS instructions specifically require an agent representing multiple employers to provide an itinerary identifying engagements, actual employers and work locations.
L-1A: Be prepared to explain the qualifying corporate relationship between the foreign and U.S. companies, your qualifying employment abroad, the employees and functions you managed, and why the proposed U.S. position is genuinely managerial or executive.
L-1B: Applicants should be able to explain—in understandable, specific terms—the company’s products, systems, processes or methodologies and exactly what makes their knowledge specialized rather than simply general industry knowledge. USCIS itself emphasizes detailed evidence concerning the company’s business, the specialized knowledge involved and why that knowledge is needed for the U.S. assignment.
Five Rules for Every Consular Interview
Know your petition. Know your employer. Know your job. Know your work location. Be consistent.
Review the DS-160, petition/support letter, I-129 where applicable, I-797 approval, LCA where applicable, résumé, employment history, contracts, itinerary and client documentation before appearing for the interview. The Department of State also advises applicants to follow the specific document and application requirements of the embassy or consulate where they apply.
Applicants should generally schedule their interview in their country of nationality or residence under the State Department’s current instructions; applying elsewhere may make qualification more difficult.
The best consular interview is not about memorizing answers—it is about knowing your own case and giving short, truthful and consistent answers supported by the petition.
Sincerely,
Keshab Raj Seadie, Esq. Law Offices of Keshab Raj Seadie, P.C.
Disclaimer: This newsletter is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Always consult an attorney for personalized advice.
