What Changed for Your Case in November 2026

November at a glance

If you are waiting on a green card

Work permit renewals no longer extend automatically

On October 14, DHS published a final rule confirming an interim rule from a year earlier. A renewal filed on or after October 30, 2025 no longer keeps an expiring card valid while it is pending. If the card expires first, you must stop working unless another status allows it.

USCIS’s latest quarterly data makes the timing worse: the median wait for adjustment-based work permits rose to 6.4 months from April through June, and 35,767 were denied, 43.5% of decisions, across all types of green card case. The full analysis covers what those numbers do and do not show. The practical step is to file a renewal well ahead of expiration. USCIS recommends no more than 180 days early, but DHS said in the rule that it will not reject an eligible renewal filed sooner.

The filing window stayed open

USCIS designated the Dates for Filing chart for November on its adjustment of status filing charts page, the same choice as October. EB-2 applicants from most of the world with a priority date before March 15, 2026 can file an I-485 this month, as can EB-1 applicants born in China or India with a date before July 1, 2024. USCIS makes this decision monthly, so applicants who qualify now should not assume December will be the same.

EB-2 moved forward

The November Visa Bulletin advanced the EB-2 final action date for most of the world by three months to April 1, 2025, moved EB-1 China to August 1, 2023, and left EB-2 India at November 1, 2013. The bulletin analysis has every category.

If you hold a work visa

Two proposals with deadlines next week

DHS has proposed ending deference to prior approvals on extensions, which would let USCIS review a second or third petition as if it were new, and eliminating the 60-day grace period after a job ends. Neither is in effect. Comments close November 13 and November 10. The analysis of both proposals covers what they would change, and the guide to options after a layoff covers the rules as they stand today.

L-1 extensions at large dependent employers

USCIS policy alert PA-2026-16, issued October 27, updates its guidance to match the August fee rule. The Public Law 114-113 fee now applies to extension petitions as well as initial ones, for covered employers: those with 50 or more US employees, more than half of them in H-1B or L-1 status, counting part-time staff. It applies to petitions postmarked on or after September 9, 2026.

If you are an international student

Comments on the proposed OPT fee close November 9. The proposal would charge schools $70,000 for a first OPT recommendation and $30,000 for later ones, including the STEM extension. It is not in effect, and the analysis covers routes to US work that do not depend on OPT.

Smaller changes worth knowing

Birthday deadlines

Since October 23, a filing deadline tied to a birthday, such as filing before a child turns 21, no longer rolls to the next business day when it falls on a weekend or holiday. Deadlines counted in days are unchanged.

EB-5 fees

The EB-5 fee rule takes effect November 30. Filings postmarked on or after that date need the new fees, so investors with a petition ready should file before then.

Certain CBP One parolees

Following a September 28 court order, USCIS announced that Sileiri Doe class members whose parole was ended by mass email in April 2025 may ask USCIS to reopen certain adverse decisions without a fee.