EB-3 Week in Review: July 6–12, 2026 — PERM Upheaval, TPS Crisis & AOS Shifts

Week in Review: July 6–12, 2026

The week of July 6 was defined by convergence: a landmark Supreme Court ruling crashed into a planned PERM regulatory overhaul at the same moment a federal fraud investigation began issuing subpoenas to green card sponsors. Simultaneously, a May 2026 USCIS policy memo quietly continued reshaping how Adjustment of Status (AOS) cases are decided. For EB-3 applicants, all of these threads matter — and they all arrived at once.

Policy & Legislative Updates

Supreme Court Clears Way for TPS Terminations — 350,000 Affected

The dominant policy story of the week traces back to June 25, 2026, when the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling in Mullin v. Doe, overturning lower-court injunctions that had blocked the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti and Syria. The immediate consequence: DHS set an emergency work permit expiration date of July 10, 2026 for TPS holders from seven countries — Haiti, Syria, Burma (Myanmar), Yemen, Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Somalia.

The numbers are stark. Roughly 350,000 Haitians and approximately 6,000 Syrians are directly affected by the terminations upheld in Mullin, while the broader TPS program covers approximately 1.3 million people from 17 nations. The legal precedent now enables further terminations beyond Haiti and Syria.

In a notable administrative maneuver, USCIS issued updated Form I-9 guidance on July 10 introducing "placeholder" dates for work authorization. These are temporary reference points for employers — not official extension deadlines — issued specifically to provide a compliance anchor while litigation over TPS terminations continues in lower federal courts. The placeholder dates are explicitly subject to change as court proceedings evolve.

For EB-3 applicants who hold TPS from any of the seven listed countries: TPS does not create a pathway to a green card. Once TPS expires, lawful presence and work authorization both lapse. If you are pursuing an employment-based green card simultaneously, ensuring your I-140 and I-485 timelines account for a potential gap in work authorization is critical. Employers with TPS-holding staff should review the July 10 USCIS I-9 guidance and avoid prematurely re-verifying documents — premature re-verification is itself a compliance violation.

May 2026 USCIS Memo Continues to Reshape AOS Adjudication

A USCIS policy memo issued May 21, 2026 has significantly altered how Adjustment of Status applications are evaluated, and its effects are becoming clearer as immigration practitioners accumulate field data. Murthy Law Firm attorneys, reporting in their July 2026 podcast, describe observing new Request for Evidence (RFE) patterns and shifted interview dynamics at field offices since the memo took effect.

The memo broadens USCIS's discretionary authority when evaluating AOS applications. Field reports reveal inconsistent implementation across field offices, with some applicants now being asked to justify why they chose AOS over consular processing abroad — a question that was essentially unheard of before May 2026.

For pending AOS applicants, practitioners have identified a key response strategy: "interfiling" — proactively submitting supplemental documentation to strengthen the case record. This includes evidence of U.S. ties, continuous employment history, length of residence, and family connections. EB-5 applicants face a compounding deadline: a grandfathering cutoff of September 30, 2026 under the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act.

If you have a pending I-485 and have not recently reviewed your case file with your attorney — or do not have an attorney — the post-memo adjudication environment is meaningfully different from what existed before May 21.

PERM Labor Certification

DOL Announces First PERM Overhaul in Over 20 Years

The Department of Labor (DOL) announced plans this week to modernize the PERM (Program Electronic Review Management) labor certification process — the foundational first step in most EB-3 green card cases. This is the first major overhaul in more than two decades, and its scope is expected to touch digital filing systems, recruitment documentation requirements, audit procedures, and processing timelines.

Full regulatory details have not yet been published. However, the signal from DOL is clear enough that immigration practitioners are already advising employers with large EB-3 sponsorship pipelines to accelerate filings where possible under current rules before a new framework takes effect. Employers should audit their existing PERM cases now — specifically their recruitment documentation, job description specificity, and prevailing wage compliance.

Federal Fraud Investigation: Dozens of Subpoenas Already Issued

Simultaneously — and this is the more urgent development — the DOL's Office of Inspector General (DOL-OIG) has launched a nationwide investigation into H-1B and PERM fraud, with Inspector General Anthony D'Esposito confirming that dozens of subpoenas have already been issued. This is not a future possibility; enforcement is actively underway.

Investigators are examining fraudulent PERM applications, labor trafficking, exploitation of foreign workers, and potential links to transnational criminal enterprises. The probe spans healthcare, technology, and other industries that commonly use EB-3 sponsorship.

For EB-3 applicants, the practical risk is this: if your sponsoring employer is under investigation or has compliance irregularities in its PERM documentation, your petition could be jeopardized even if you personally did nothing wrong. Employers are advised to proactively audit their H-1B Public Access Files, verify prevailing wage compliance, and confirm that all sponsored employees are working in the positions and locations specified in their PERM applications.

If your employer operates in healthcare or technology and you have concerns about their PERM compliance, this is a moment to ask questions — before federal investigators do.

USCIS Processing Times

Country-Specific Processing Data Surfaced by Reddit Community

A notable transparency gap was partially filled this week when a Reddit user in r/USCIS shared USCIS processing time statistics disaggregated by country of birth and visa category — data that goes well beyond the national averages typically published on the USCIS website. For applicants from India, China, Mexico, and the Philippines, national averages are often dramatically misleading: actual wait times for oversubscribed nationalities can be years longer than the headline figure.

EB-3 applicants are encouraged to cross-reference this country-specific processing data alongside the monthly Visa Bulletin. Both the priority date movement (Visa Bulletin) and the administrative processing window (USCIS processing times) affect when you can expect a final decision — and conflating the two is a common source of confusion.

What This Means for Your EB-3 Case

If your employer sponsors EB-3 workers: The DOL fraud investigation and the upcoming PERM rule changes are not abstract. Request a compliance review from your immigration counsel this month — before a subpoena arrives or new rules lock in requirements you weren't prepared for. Accelerate any PERM filings that are ready to go.

If you hold TPS and are pursuing an EB-3 green card simultaneously: The July 10 work permit expiration is not a hard stop if USCIS placeholder guidance applies to your country — but it is legally precarious. Understand exactly what work authorization documents you currently hold and whether they remain valid under the July 10 guidance.

If you have a pending I-485: The May 2026 USCIS memo has changed the adjudication climate in ways that are still becoming clear. Consider whether your case file reflects strong positive equities — U.S. ties, employment continuity, length of residence. If you've received an RFE since May 21, 2026, the response environment is different from before.

If you're considering invoking AC-21 portability: Two critical rules resurfaced in practitioner guidance this week. First, if your employer withdraws your I-140 before your I-485 has been pending for 180 days, portability rights are forfeited — even one day before the 180-day mark breaks the chain. Second, if you hold both an EB-2 and an EB-3 I-140 (a common downgrade strategy for Indian and Chinese nationals chasing an earlier priority date), document any job change with extreme care and obtain a same-or-similar occupational analysis before switching roles.

If you used Alexandra Lozano or Luz Legal: An urgent advisory is circulating: file an immediate change of address with USCIS through multiple channels. Missed RFEs or biometrics notices due to outdated attorney addresses can result in automatic denial of pending I-485 applications.

This week was unusually dense with overlapping enforcement, regulatory, and legal developments. The common thread is that the compliance environment for both employers and applicants has tightened significantly — across PERM, AOS, and TPS simultaneously.

This post is generated from immigration news published during the week of July 6–12, 2026. Information is for reference only. Verify all details with official USCIS, DOL, and DOS sources.