USCIS to Consider “Anti-Americanism” in Certain Immigration Decisions

On August 19, 2025, USCIS issued a policy alert that the agency will review “anti-Americanism” as a  discretionary factor when reviewing certain benefit requests.

“Anti-Americanism” will be reviewed in requests such as employment authorization applications, F visa extension applications and changes of status, requests for National Interest Waivers, and employment-based adjustments of status.

 

USCIS dictates that officers should give “overwhelmingly negative weight” to evidence of an applicant’s support for or promotion of terrorist ideologies, antisemitism, or other conduct USCIS may consider “anti-American”. The agency asserts that such conduct will likely lead to denial of the requested benefit.

 

The policy explicitly allows officers to consider public behavior, including social media activity, as part of this discretionary review, making it important for applicants to be mindful of their digital footprint when applying for immigration benefits.

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.

July 2025 Visa Bulletin: Mostly steady, scattered progress forward

The Department of State has just issued the July 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 July 2025. See: USCIS Visa Bulletin Dates

MU Law Analysis

EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3 China all moved forward 1-2 weeks in July 2025.

EB-3 All Other and EB-3 Mexico moved forward nearly 2 months.

EB-3 India moved forward 1 week.

All remaining categories stayed steady and made no progress.

As we approach the end of the fiscal year in September, the visa bulletin is unlikely to make significant progress forward and is expected to slow down or remain steady.

In 2024, EB-3 categories retrogressed significantly in July 2024 and September 2024, so the lack of retrogression in this month’s visa bulletin is a positive sign toward a steady conclusion of the fiscal year.