Immigration Update · June 8, 2026

The courts just opened the door. Here's what international nurses need to know right now.

By NursingUSA Editorial Team · 5 min read

Two federal courts issued decisions this week that matter for internationally trained nurses seeking to work in the United States.

If your immigration case stalled since late 2025, or if H-1B sponsorship costs were prohibitive, this changes the picture. Here's what happened and what to do next.

What changed

Two court wins in four days

June 5, 2026

The 39-country adjudication pause was struck down

Chief Judge John McConnell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island ruled that all four USCIS policies freezing immigration processing since late 2025 were unlawful and vacated them.

The four policies:

• Benefits Hold (blocked green card, work permit, and citizenship applications)

• Global Asylum Hold (paused asylum decisions regardless of origin)

• Comprehensive Re-Review Policy (required reexamination of approved cases)

• Country-Specific Factors Policy (treated nationality as a negative factor)

"USCIS's hold on adjudications cannot be attributed to anything that these individuals did wrong; rather, it arises solely by the happenstance of their birth." - Chief Judge McConnell

June 8, 2026

The $100,000 H-1B fee was struck down

U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin in Boston ruled the $100,000 fee imposed by executive proclamation on September 19, 2025 was an unlawful tax Congress never authorized.

Before September 2025, H-1B fees were $2,000 to $5,000. The proclamation increased them 50-fold overnight, halting most new sponsorships. That fee is now gone.

What this means

These rulings together restore the immigration pathways that Congress built and that international nurses have relied on for decades. The courts have reaffirmed these programs exist to serve nurses who earn their way into them - and the American patients who depend on the healthcare workforce they support.

If your case was frozen, it can resume. If you're seeking a sponsor, the cost barrier vanished. If you're starting out, apply now.