Department of State Shortens Validity of Temporary Visas for over 50 Countries

On July 17, 2025, NAFSA, a nonprofit policy advocate, released a report detailing the Department of State’s (DOS) recent actions to shorten temporary visa validity periods. DOS’s changes will affect multiple temporary visa types for nationals of over 50 countries.  

In most cases, DOS has shortened temporary visa validity to only 3 months and a single entry. In practice, this means applicants receiving a shortened visa must enter the US within 3 months of their visa issuance and will have to reapply for a visa before each entry to the US.

A full list of the more than 50 affected countries can be found in NAFSA’s report; the list includes Afghanistan, Cameroon, Ghana, Haiti, Iran, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe.

With some variations, affected visa types include B, F, H, J, M, O, and P visas.

F visas are utilized by international students in the US. The H-1B visa is open to employees filling US positions that require Bachelor’s degrees, which include healthcare occupations such as Medical Technologists, Occupational Therapists, Physical Therapists, and even Registered Nurses.

Although DOS did not make an announcement of its sweeping temporary visa limitations, individual visa validity periods by country are updated on the DOS’s visa reciprocity website. Speak with an MU attorney if you have questions about your visa validity.

FY 2026 H-1B Cap is Reached: USCIS Will Not Conduct Second Round of Lottery

USCIS announced in a News Alert that the FY 2026 H-1B cap has been reached as of July 2025. Because the cap has been reached, USCIS will not conduct a second round of H-1B cap lottery selections in 2025.

The FY 2026 H-1B cap has been reached because USCIS received enough H-1B petitions between April 1, 2025 and June 30, 2025 to meet the 65,000 H-1B visa regular cap and 20,000 H-1B visa master’s cap. 

The case status for registrations that were not selected in the FY 2026 cap will be updated from “Submitted” to “Not Selected” in their https://my.uscis.gov/ account.

August 2025 Visa Bulletin: Slight Movement Forward for EB-3 India, Slight Retrogression for Others

The Department of State has just issued the August 2025 Visa Bulletin. This blog post analyzes this month's Visa Bulletin.

Visa Bulletin

Table A: Final Action Dates -- Applications with these priority dates or earlier may be approved for their Green Card (Permanent Residency card) or Immigrant Visa appointment:

Table B: Dates for Filing

USCIS will continue to use the Table A Final Action Dates chart for I-485 employment-based filings in August 2025. See: USCIS Visa Bulletin Dates

MU Law Analysis

EB-3 India was the only category to progress forward in August 2025, with forward movement of 1 month.  

EB-2 All Other, EB-2 Mexico, and EB-2 Philippines all retrogressed 6 weeks.  

All remaining categories stayed steady and made no progress.

As August is the penultimate month of the fiscal year, slight retrogression is typical and not a cause for concern. September 2025’s visa bulletin is unlikely to make progress forward and may slow or even retrogress again before the start of the fiscal year in October.

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR UPDATES 2025 PREVAILING WAGES

The Department of Labor (DOL) has completed its annual update of prevailing wages as of July 1, 2025.

Wages Generally Increase in 2025

The DOL’s July 1 prevailing wage update typically shows increases in wages across most industries. However, wages have decreased during times of economic uncertainty or in response to labor market changes. For example, many wages decreased following the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2025, the DOL’s update shows prevailing wages consistently increasing, though at different rates across differing industries.
 
Sample Occupations and Counties

Registered Nurse wages in major metropolitan areas increased from 2024 to 2025 at rates from 3% to nearly 30%:

	2024	2025
Orange County, CA	$72,134	$100,901
Broward County, FL	$66,976	$70,637
Cook County, IL	$71,240	$73,195
New York County, NY	$83,720	$88,941

 
Software Developers wages increased more gradually from 2024 to 2025, with some very slightly decreasing:

	2024	2025
Orange County, CA	$102,357	$102,232
Broward County, FL	$76,773	$83,658
Cook County, IL	$85,363	$85,467
New York County, NY	$95,493	$103,210

 
Conclusion

For specific questions on prevailing wages in your area and industry, please reach out to an MU attorney who can provide up-to-date information to plan for your future immigration filings.