SEPTEMBER 9 — Routine H-1B and L-1 extensions start owing the biometric fee.

DHS's August 10 final rule requires large sponsors to pay the 9-11 Response and Biometric Entry-Exit Fee on all H-1B and L-1 petitions, including the same-employer extensions that were exempt before. The rule reaches employers with 50 or more U.S. employees, more than half of them in H-1B or L-1 status. The fee is $4,000 per H-1B petition and $4,500 per L-1, and it attaches to petitions postmarked or filed on or after the 9th. Amended petitions not seeking an extension stay exempt.

Note the calendar. With Labor Day on the 7th, sponsors with extensions coming due have five business days left to file at the old cost.

SEPTEMBER 15 — New I-539 and I-765 editions, no grace period.

The 09/15/26 editions replace the 08/28/24 I-539 and the 08/21/25 I-765. Old edition on or after the 15th: rejected. New edition before the 15th: also rejected.

Here is the trap. Dependents file I-539 alongside the principal's I-129. Assemble a family packet in early September on the current forms, mail it after the 15th, and the principal's petition is accepted while the dependents' applications come back.

SEPTEMBER 18 — New I-485 edition, no grace period.

Same structure, but the form is the smaller half of it. DHS's public charge final rule takes effect the same day, and applications received before the 18th are evaluated under the 2022 framework even if USCIS decides them months later. The filing date picks the standard.

SEPTEMBER 24 — Comments close on the $103,265 fee.

Specific, data-supported comments are the ones that carry weight.

SEPTEMBER 30 — FY 2026 ends.

India EB-2 and EB-5 unreserved are already unavailable. State has warned that EB-1 India, and worldwide EB-2 and EB-5, could follow before the year closes.

Two things cut across all of it.

A rejection is not a denial. A denial is an adjudication you may be able to answer. A rejection returns the package and preserves no filing date, which in a month when a category may close is the whole exposure.

And if you file online near any of these cutoffs, myUSCIS records filing dates in Coordinated Universal Time. An evening submission on the West Coast can carry the next day's date. Do not file at the last minute.