U.S. Immigration Alerts

FGI FIVE: U.S. Immigration News Summary – Week of July 03, 2025

Department of Labor creates Office of Immigration Policy (OIP)

• The Department of Labor (DOL) has announced that it is creating an Office of Immigration Policy (OIP) within DOL’s Office of the Secretary. 
• The OIP will conduct oversight, policy direction, and resource coordination of employment-based immigration programs (H-1B, H-2A/B, PERM, and prevailing wage determinations).
• The OIP is intended to align more closely with DOL’s Employment Training Administration (ETA) to accelerate prevailing wage determinations and PERM adjudications. 
• The OIP will also pursue customer-centric processes to reduce PWD and PERM backlogs. 
• By pursuing a centralized approach, OIP intends to speed up labor condition applications (LCAs) certifications and to make sure that enforcement actions align with DOL policy. 

SOURCES: subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2025/06/labor-department-forms-office-of-immigration-policy-to-streamline-work-visas-00424564; and immigrationforum.org/article/legislative-bulletin-friday-june-27-2025/

OFLC announces change in mailing address for its temporary programs

• The Employment and Training Administration published a notice in the Federal Register on June 30, 2025, to announce that the Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) is changing the mailing address for its temporary programs, currently submitted to addresses in Chicago, IL.
• Physical mail for documents related to these temporary programs, when applicable, is currently addressed to the National Processing Center (NPC)’s mailing address at: U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, Office of Foreign Labor Certification, Chicago National Processing Center, 11 W Quincy Court, Chicago, Illinois 60604.
• Effective August 29, 2025, any physical mail sent to the NPC in Chicago must be submitted to the following new centralized mailing address: U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, Office of Foreign Labor Certification, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Room N-5311, Washington, DC 20210. This address will be used both to receive documentary evidence for applications and to receive payments for H-2A certification invoices.

SOURCE: Department of Labor, June 30, 2025: www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/foreign-labor/news

OFLC publishes updated list of professional occupations

• On June 24, 2025, the Department of Labor’s Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) announced that it reviewed occupational and education data and published a new list of occupations on its website, as it does annually per a 2021 Federal Register notice.
• OFLC said the list of professional occupations “serves as a guide for employers to distinguish between professional and non-professional occupations in order to comply with the professional recruitment requirements of the PERM program.” 
• Appendix A to the Preamble–Education and Training Categories by Occupational Information Network (O*NET)–Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) Occupations, which implements the new list of professional occupations for the July 2025 through June 2026 wage year, will be effective July 1, 2025

SOURCE: www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/foreign-labor

US visa processing and consular services in the Middle East face disruptions

• U.S. visa processing across the Middle East is facing renewed disruption due to developments such as tensions between the U.S. and Iran. 
• Recent military activity involving Iran, and the U.S. government’s evacuation of non-essential personnel from multiple embassies across the Middle East, are significantly affecting visa processing in the region. 
• Although the Department of State (DOS) recently authorized the resumption of F, M, and J visa interviews under new vetting protocols, the deteriorating security environment is likely to delay, or entirely suspend, implementation of that guidance at affected consular posts.

SOURCE: ABIL Immigration Insider, June 29, 2025

USCIS introduces new text messaging number

• Beginning July 1, 2025, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will end sending short message service (SMS), a/k/a text messages, from the number 468-311 (GOV-311). 
• The new official SMS number will be 872466 (USAIMM).
• This change affects all USCIS text communications, including case status updates, appointment reminders and security notifications. Recipients should be cautious of messages purporting to be from the USCIS that do not originate from the new number and update contact records accordingly to avoid confusion or missed notifications. 

SOURCE: timesofindia.indiatimes.com/technology/tech-news/us-immigration-authority-to-visa-applicants-effective-july-1-2025-uscis-will-no-longer-send-/articleshow/122119361.cms

USCIS updates policy concerning Form I-693

• U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has updated its policy for Form I-693, the medical exam required for many immigration applications. 
• Going forward, Form I-693 will generally be valid only for the application it was submitted with — and can’t be reused for future applications.
• This change applies to all applications submitted or pending as of June 11, 2025.
• Under the new policy:

• • If an immigration application is denied or withdrawn, the corresponding Form I-693 is no longer valid.
  • Applicants will need to complete a new medical exam and submit a new Form I-693 with any future immigration application.
  • The change applies to I-693 forms signed by a civil surgeon on or after November 1, 2023.
  • Forms signed before November 1, 2023 will still be valid for two years from the date they were signed.

The content of this article is intended only to provide a general guide to the subject matter. It should not be construed as legal advice. Please contact FGI at info@employmentimmigration.com or (+1) 248.643.4900 for guidance if you have specific questions.