September 2026: Five Deadlines That Will Decide Thousands of Green Cards

For most of the year, US immigration policy has moved in a familiar rhythm: a proclamation, a lawsuit, a stay, an appeal. But over the last ten days of August, five separate storylines converged on the same narrow window — the next three weeks of September. Taken individually, each is significant. Taken together, they add up to the most consequential stretch for US-bound immigrants since the H-1B fee was first announced a year ago.

Here is exactly where each of them stands as of today, what's confirmed, what's still just a proposal, and what to actually watch for.

September 2026: Five Deadlines That Will Decide Thousands of Green Cards

1. The Worldwide Green Card Interview Pause

Since early August, the State Department has been quietly rescheduling immigrant visa interviews at US embassies and consulates around the world. It became public on August 25, when a department spokesperson told the Financial Times that appointments were being pushed back to accommodate a new training initiative for consular officers — one designed to help them screen applicants more "comprehensively and consistently" for the risk of becoming a public charge.

The American Immigration Lawyers Association says it has received formal notice from the State Department confirming interview cancellations across the globe. Applicants who had appointments already on the calendar have been getting emails informing them their interview is being pushed back, with no new date attached.

What makes this especially disorienting is the timing. Just four days earlier, on August 21, a federal judge in the Southern District of New York vacated a completely different policy — the one that had suspended immigrant visa issuance outright for nationals of 75 countries since January. The State Department insists the new training pause isn't connected to that ruling. The plaintiffs in that case aren't taking that at face value: they've already gone back to court asking the judge to enforce the order against the 75-country list specifically.

What's confirmed: the pause is real, it's global, and it does not affect adjustment-of-status cases being processed by USCIS inside the US, nor nonimmigrant visas like H-1B, F-1, or J-1.

What's still unclear: exactly when it ends. One administration official told the Associated Press the pause isn't expected to run past early-to-mid September, and that most people affected simply had August interviews rather than cancellations stretching further out. But nothing has been published, and immigration attorneys are advising clients to expect delays measured in weeks, not days.

Why it matters beyond September: a new DHS public charge rule for adjustment-of-status applicants takes effect on September 18. The consular retraining looks very much like it's being built to align with that same standard — which would mean the "temporary" pause is really a preview of a permanent, stricter bar.

2. Up to 200,000 Visas Could Be Revoked — the Largest in US History

This one hasn't been officially announced yet, but it's real enough that four major outlets have independently confirmed it through State Department documents and sourcing: the administration is preparing to revoke the B1 (business) and B2 (tourist) visas of as many as 200,000 people who entered the US on those visas since 2016 and later filed for asylum.

If it goes ahead as described, it would be the single largest mass visa revocation in American history — larger than anything carried out so far under this administration, which has already revoked more than 175,000 visas since taking office.

State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott confirmed the effort is underway but wouldn't commit to a number, saying only that revocations would happen "on a rolling basis." Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau was more direct on social media, framing the policy as a response to what he called abuse of the asylum process by tourist and business travelers.

A few important nuances the panic headlines tend to skip:

• This does not mean automatic deportation. Most affected people would be shifted into a different immigration category rather than removed immediately.

• It targets people who already filed for or are pursuing asylum — not the broader population of B1/B2 holders.

• New applicants for these visa categories may soon be asked to verbally confirm, on the record, that they don't intend to seek asylum and that they plan to return home — a screening step already circulated in an internal cable to embassies and consulates.

The announcement is expected "in the coming weeks." Legal challenges are all but guaranteed the moment it's formalized.

3. The H-1B Fee Saga Splits Into Two Tracks

This is the story most likely to get garbled in translation, because there are now genuinely two different $100,000-ish fees moving through two different legal processes at the same time.

Track one — the original proclamation fee. The September 2025 presidential proclamation that first imposed a $100,000 fee on certain H-1B petitions was vacated by a federal judge in Massachusetts on June 8, 2026, who ruled it functioned as an unlawful tax that the executive branch had no authority to impose. The government appealed and briefly got the fee reinstated — but the First Circuit Court of Appeals refused to keep that stay in place on July 24. As of today, the fee under this proclamation cannot be collected. The government's appeal on the merits continues, with briefing expected to wrap up in October. On top of that, the proclamation itself is written to expire on its own terms on September 20, 2026, unless the administration formally renews it.

Track two — a brand-new regulatory fee. On August 24–25, separately from all of that litigation, USCIS proposed a new standalone fee of $103,265 on every cap-subject H-1B petition — filed not as a presidential proclamation this time, but as a formal regulation. DHS's own filing acknowledges the number is "close to" the fee a court already struck down. Immigration attorneys reading the filing describe it plainly as an attempt to achieve through federal rulemaking what the administration couldn't sustain through executive proclamation. Public comments are open for 30 days from publication — roughly until late September — after which USCIS can move to finalize it. Litigation is expected the moment it does.

Bottom line for readers: right now, in early September, no H-1B fee of this size is legally collectable. But two different paths back to it are both active, and one of them — the proclamation — has a hard expiration date in three weeks that will force the administration's hand one way or another.

4. The End of the 60-Day Grace Period, Proposed

On August 28, a DHS proposal to eliminate the 60-day grace period for nonimmigrants — the cushion that currently allows someone on H-1B, L-1, or similar status to stay in the US and look for a new sponsor after losing a job — cleared federal review. This is still a proposal, not a final rule, but it's moved further than similar ideas have in the past. For anyone on employer-sponsored status, this is one to watch closely rather than react to yet.

5. TPS: Three Countries, Three Different Outcomes This Month

Temporary Protected Status news rarely moves in one direction, and August was no exception:

• Somalia: TPS formally ended on August 14. Employment authorization documents issued under that designation are no longer valid.

• Ethiopia: a federal judge in Massachusetts lifted the order that had been blocking termination, clearing the way for DHS to end the designation — though a termination date hasn't been separately confirmed.

• Ukraine: in the other direction, beneficiaries with expired TPS-based work permits got an automatic extension through October 19, 2026.

Three countries, three different trajectories, all inside the same news cycle — a reminder that TPS status now needs to be checked country by country rather than assumed to move in one policy direction.

What Readers Should Actually Do Right Now

• If you have a pending immigrant visa interview abroad: don't assume your date is safe. Watch for direct communication from your embassy or consulate, and don't make irreversible decisions — quitting a job, selling property, booking one-way travel — based on the original date until you get a confirmed new one.

• If you hold a B1/B2 visa and have an asylum application pending: this is not yet final. There is nothing to file or respond to today, but it's worth having a consultation ready to go the moment an official announcement drops.

• If your employer is planning to file a new H-1B petition: the next three weeks matter. Filing during the current window, while the $100,000 fee is unenforceable, carries meaningfully less exposure than waiting past September 20.

• If you're on H-1B, L-1, or similar sponsored status: the grace-period proposal is not law yet. But if you're between jobs or considering a change, treat 60 days as the number to plan around for now — and don't assume it will still be there next year.

This is a fast-moving cluster of deadlines, not a single event, and several pieces are still officially unconfirmed. We'll be updating this page as each of the five threads develops.

This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Immigration rules can change quickly — verify your specific situation with official government sources or a licensed immigration attorney before making decisions based on any of the deadlines above.