Justice Department Proposes New Information Collection for T Visa Certification Letters

What changed

The United States government plans to revoke B-1 (business) and B-2 (tourism) visas for up to 200,000 people. These people have applied for or are now seeking asylum in the United States. The Department of State, working with the Department of Homeland Security, will announce this plan soon. This action will not lead to immediate deportation. But, people affected will lose their status as short-term visitors.

What changed

New Zealand's Immigration New Zealand (INZ) has announced final changes to the Skilled Migrant Category (SMC) Resident Visa and Work to Residence visas. These changes start on 24 August 2026. Most people applying for an SMC Resident Visa will now only need to meet one wage rule. This rule will be set at the wage they earned when they started their skilled work experience, or when their work visa was granted if they started work within five months. This gives them more certainty. People applying for Work to Residence visas (Care Workforce and Transport) will also use the wage rule from their work visa grant date. New evidence rules include needing a bachelor's degree to support some Level 8 or 9 qualifications. Points for bachelor's degrees and accredited qualifications will increase from 3 to 4. The rule that required 120 credits for overseas Trades and Technician qualifications has been removed. Self-employment will no longer count as relevant work experience for the new Trades and Technician and Skilled Work Experience pathways. The meaning of 'genuine employment' for all skilled residence visas has been made clearer. It now means job offers must be 'available and ongoing' and show a 'genuine need to be based in New Zealand'.

What changed

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) wants to add a fee of $103,265 for all H-1B cap-subject petitions. This includes petitions for people with advanced degrees that are exempt from the usual cap. This new fee was announced on 24 August 2026. You would pay it when you file the petition, along with other fees you already pay. DHS believes this fee will raise about $8.8 billion each year. This money would help cover the federal government's costs to run the legal immigration system. The fee will apply to employers and people who file H-1B cap-subject petitions. It will not apply to petitions that are not subject to the cap. Examples include petitions from non-profit research groups and universities, which are exempt.

What changed

A federal judge in Manhattan has cancelled the Trump administration's ban on immigrant visas for people from 75 countries. The judge said the ban was 'contrary to law'. The United States (US) Department of State had stopped issuing immigrant visas to people from these countries. These countries included Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, Haiti, Somalia, and Russia. The department was worried that these people would use public benefits. This ruling came out on Friday. It changes any visa denials that happened only because of this specific policy. It confirms that the government must look at each person individually to decide if they are likely to need public benefits. This decision must consider their money, age, health, skills, and family situation, not just their country of origin.