- USCIS will now reject outdated Form I-129 submissions filed on or after April 1, 2026.
- New social media screening rules now apply to H-1B, K-1, and various other nonimmigrant visa categories.
- Maximum validity for certain Employment Authorization Documents has been reduced to 18 months.
(UNITED STATES) — USCIS began rejecting outdated versions of Form I-129 on Wednesday, requiring employers and immigration lawyers to use only the edition dated 02/27/26 for nonimmigrant worker petitions filed on or after April 1, 2026.
The change took effect after a one-month transition period that began when the agency released the new form on February 27, 2026. Through March 31, 2026, USCIS accepted both editions, but it now rejects any 01/20/2025 editions filed on or after April 1.
That firm cutoff puts immediate pressure on employers filing for nonimmigrant workers, including those using one of the immigration system’s most widely used petition forms. USCIS has also told applicants to check the edition date printed at the bottom of each form before filing because outdated submissions will be automatically rejected.
Wednesday’s deadline for Form I-129 comes amid a wider set of immigration changes that federal agencies rolled out through late 2025 and early 2026. Those changes reach beyond paperwork and into visa screening, employment authorization, travel restrictions, registration rules, wage proposals and annual visa allocations.
USCIS also updated Form I-765, the application for employment authorization, with a new edition dated 08/21/25. Starting March 5, 2026, the agency accepted only that version, though it had allowed the 01/20/25 edition until that date.
Multiple agencies have paired those form revisions with tighter compliance rules. The result is that employers, applicants and attorneys now face stricter filing requirements with little room for error.
One of the broadest changes involves visa screening. On December 3, 2025, the U.S. State Department expanded its “online presence review” requirement to include H-1B workers and H-4 dependents.
Applicants in those categories must disclose social media identifiers and make their accounts public during the visa adjudication process. On March 30, 2026, the State Department extended that screening to more nonimmigrant visa categories, including K-1 fiancé(e) visas, religious workers, trainees, domestic workers, and humanitarian categories such as T and U visas.
USCIS moved in parallel on December 5, 2025, when it announced a new USCIS Vetting Center to “centralize the enhanced vetting” of applicants. The center screens terrorists, criminal aliens, and other foreign nationals who may pose threats to public safety or who have engaged in fraud or other criminal activity.
Another change is affecting workers who rely on employment authorization documents. On December 4, 2025, USCIS announced enhanced screening measures across several benefit categories and cut the maximum validity period for certain Employment Authorization Documents to 18 months.
That does not end work authorization, but it shortens the time between renewals. Employers that rely on EAD-based workers now face more frequent reverification and a higher risk of work interruptions if renewal applications are delayed.
Human resources teams may need to begin renewals earlier than they had in the past. The change also increases the number of times employers must revisit I-9 compliance for employees whose ability to work depends on EAD validity.
The Trump Administration added another layer on December 16, 2025, when it issued a Presidential Proclamation expanding existing travel restrictions effective January 1, 2026. Screening and enforcement decisions tied to that order are not limited to passport nationality.
Officials may also consider country of birth, dual nationality, prior long-term residence abroad, and recent travel history. That broadens the factors that consular officers and immigration officials can weigh when reviewing visa applications and travelers at ports of entry.
Separate registration rules that took effect on April 11, 2025, also remain in force this year. Those rules require all non-U.S. citizens over the age of 14 to register and be fingerprinted if they remain in the United States for 30 days or longer.
The registration process uses Form G-325R, which is available through individual USCIS online accounts. Applicants must provide biographic information, five years of address history, history of activities and planned actions in the United States, an estimated departure date, criminal history, and details for all immediate family members.
People who must complete biometrics must do so before receiving Proof of Registration from USCIS. Others may show they are already registered through documents including Form I-94, Form I-551, Form I-766, valid unexpired nonimmigrant DHS admission or parole stamps, and other specified documents.
Employment-based immigration rules could tighten further if another proposal moves ahead. The U.S. Department of Labor has proposed raising minimum salary thresholds for H-1B and other employment-based visa wages across all levels.
Under that proposal, entry-level wages could rise by more than 30%, with the lowest tier moving from the 17th to the 34th percentile of local wage data. The plan would also apply to H-1B1, E-3, and PERM cases.
If the rule is finalized, it would affect new filings only. Employers have roughly 60 days to submit public comments before the rule is finalized.
Family-based immigration sponsors are also facing new financial thresholds this year. In 2026, most sponsors must earn at least $27,050 to support a household of two under the Affidavit of Support process.
Higher thresholds apply to larger families. Sponsors who do not meet the income level can still qualify by combining household income, using a joint sponsor, or counting certain assets.
Visa availability figures for the current fiscal year add another set of constraints. The fiscal year 2026 limit for family-sponsored preference immigrants is 226,000, while the worldwide level for annual employment-based preference immigrants is at least 140,000.
The per-country limit for preference immigrants is 7% of the total annual family-sponsored and employment-based preference limits, or 25,620. Those figures shape when applicants can move forward with immigrant visa processing or adjustment of status.
For April 2026, the second allocation for employment start dates includes 27,736 visas, plus any unused visas from the previous allocation. That number matters for workers and families tracking when green card cases may become current.
The immediate compliance burden, however, falls most sharply on petitioners filing with USCIS today. Any employer preparing an H-1B or other nonimmigrant worker filing on April 1, 2026 must now confirm that the petition uses the 02/27/26 edition of Form I-129.
That check is no longer a housekeeping detail. Filing the wrong edition now leads to rejection at intake.
The same logic applies across other updated forms. USCIS has made edition dates a front-end gatekeeping tool, and applicants who overlook them can lose time even before an officer reviews the substance of the filing.
For immigration attorneys and company legal teams, that means revising templates, software systems and internal filing checklists. A petition package assembled with an outdated form can fail even if every supporting document is otherwise complete.
For workers awaiting extensions, transfers or other approvals tied to Form I-129, that risk can carry practical consequences. Delays at the filing stage can affect employment timelines and status planning, especially where employers work close to expiration dates.
Applicants in consular processing face a different set of adjustments. Anyone applying in the visa categories now covered by online presence screening must ensure social media accounts are visible for review during adjudication.
That requirement now reaches H-1B workers, H-4 dependents, K-1 fiancé(e) visa applicants, religious workers, trainees, domestic workers and applicants in T and U visa categories. The expansion marks one of the most visible screening changes of the year.
Workers dependent on employment authorization documents face a separate calendar problem. With the maximum validity period for certain EADs now capped at 18 months, renewal windows matter more than before.
Employers may need to identify EAD-based employees earlier, track expiration dates more closely and adjust reverification schedules. Employees, in turn, may need to file renewal requests sooner to avoid gaps.
Registration rules also continue to affect many foreign nationals already in the country. Non-U.S. citizens over 14 who remain in the United States for 30 days or longer must account for whether they need to register through Form G-325R or whether an existing immigration document already satisfies the requirement.
Taken together, the 2026 changes show a federal immigration system that now ties eligibility, processing and compliance more closely to updated forms, shorter document validity periods and broader screening. The effect reaches employers sponsoring workers, families filing immigration petitions, and visa applicants preparing for consular interviews.
For many petitioners, the first test arrives at the bottom of the page. On April 1, 2026, the edition date on Form I-129 can determine whether USCIS accepts a filing at all.
