Visa-Related News and Announcements
End of UW's pause on filing new H-1B petitions
November 10, 2025
Effective November 10th, and consistent with recently-released USCIS guidance, UW is ending the “pause” on filing new H-1B petitions related to the $100,000 fee announced on September 19, 2025. International Scholars Operations (ISO) will start moving individual affected H-1B cases forward, as follows: According to the latest USCIS guidance, the $100,000 fee is not required…
USCIS no longer accepting filing fee checks as of 10/29/25
October 2, 2025
USCIS has announced that it will no longer accept checks as a payment method for any filing fee as of October 29, 2025, and will transition entirely to electronic payment methods instead. Those methods include the Form G-1450 Authorization for Credit Card Transactions. ISO has experienced higher USCIS rejection rates with petitions filed using G-1450…
Effect of Federal Shutdown on ISO Visa Processing
October 2, 2025
As of October 1st, the U.S. federal government has entered a shutdown pending Congressional approval of a budget for the new federal fiscal year. ISO and government agency processes that will be affected: U.S. Department of Labor processing ISO cannot draft or submit ETA-9035 Labor Condition Applications (LCAs) for H-1B/E-3 sponsorship, or ETA-9141 Prevailing Wage Determinations or…