The November 3 midterm elections are over, and your group chats are probably already asking: if Congress changes hands, will my visa bulletin date, my H-1B or my OPT change with it?
Short answer: what the vote can change is mainly the text of the law and the money Congress appropriates. Most of the changes you have heard about in recent months are rules and proclamations from DHS, USCIS and the President. They do not depend on this vote to take effect, and this vote does not cancel them automatically. Also, the new Congress does not begin until January 3, 2027. Until then, the sitting Congress is still the one in session.
This piece does not predict who will introduce which bill, and it does not say whether any result is good or bad for immigrants. It covers three things: what Congress controls, what agencies and courts control, and where each item that affects you stands today.
01 What do the election results look like right now?
The Associated Press (AP) reported on November 4 that Democrats won majorities in both the House and the Senate (AP report). In that report, AP had not yet called the Senate races in Alaska and Mississippi. This section records results only and does not evaluate them.
02 What does Congress actually control?
In short, two things: laws and money.
Laws first. How many green cards are available each year, how much of that one country can take, how many H-1B registrations get selected: these numbers are written into the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). No agency sets them on its own. Here are the ones readers ask about most:
| Item | What the statute says today | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Per-country limit | People born in one country can take at most 7% of the combined family and employment preference visas in a year (2% for a dependent area) | INA 202(a)(2) |
| Yearly employment-based total | A base of 140,000, plus family-sponsored numbers left unused the year before | INA 201(d) |
| Yearly family-based total | Set by a formula, and by statute it cannot fall below 226,000 | INA 201(c) |
| Diversity Visa (DV) lottery | The worldwide level written in the statute is 55,000 per year | INA 201(e), INA 203(c) |
| H-1B yearly cap | 65,000. For people with a U.S. master's degree or higher, the first 20,000 do not count against that 65,000 | INA 214(g) |
| How a child's age is counted (CSPA) | The rules for deciding whether someone still counts as a child | INA 203(h) |
Changing these numbers takes a new law: both the Senate and the House must pass it and the President must sign it. If the President does not sign, it takes two-thirds of each chamber to override (Constitution, Article I, Section 7). In other words, an election changes how many votes each side has in the two chambers. It does not change that process. The terms of the new members begin at noon on January 3, 2027 (20th Amendment).
Then money. The Constitution says money can leave the Treasury only through appropriations made by law (Article I, Section 9). Full-year fiscal 2027 appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security have not passed. The department is running on a stopgap law (Public Law 119-103, signed September 2) that expires on December 11. A Congressional Research Service report dated September 30 also states that the Senate Appropriations Committee had not yet marked up a fiscal 2027 DHS bill (CRS R49427). December 11 comes before January 3, so the sitting Congress is the one that has to deal with it.
Two things people often mix up:
- USCIS mostly runs on fees. In fiscal 2021 the fee account made up about 96% of its total enacted spending authority (2024 final fee rule). DHS adjusts the fees by rule, under INA 286(m).
- The immigration courts (EOIR) sit inside the Justice Department. Their money comes through the Justice Department's appropriations. In its March 2026 fiscal 2027 budget request, the department asked for $899 million for EOIR (DOJ budget justification). That is a request, not money already appropriated.
What this means for you: the green card and H-1B numbers did not change on election day, and changing them would take a new law. The nearest congressional date is the December 11 funding deadline.
03 What changes do not depend on the vote, and where does each one stand?
Most of what you have seen lately went through a different route: an agency issues a rule, the President issues a proclamation, and then courts may rule on it. Here are the most recent ones, each with the official text:
| Date | What | Status now | Official text |
|---|---|---|---|
| Published July 20 | Public charge rule (RIN 1615-AD06) | In effect since September 18; states and cities have sued since September 14 | Federal Register, New York Attorney General press release |
| Published October 14 | End of automatic EAD extensions (RIN 1615-AD05) | Effective the day it was published | Federal Register |
| Published September 23 | H-1B $100,000 entry restriction extended one year, to September 21, 2027 | Presidential proclamation under INA 212(f) and 215(a) | Federal Register |
| Published September 30 | EB-5 fee rule (RIN 1615-AC93) | Final rule, effective November 30 | Federal Register |
| Published October 8 | OPT fees (RIN 1653-AB01) | Proposed rule only; comments close November 9 | Federal Register |
| Published September 11 | Eliminating the 60-day grace period (RIN 1615-AD22) | Proposed rule only; comments close November 10 | Federal Register |
We have covered each of these before: public charge, EAD automatic extension, the H-1B $100,000 restriction, EB-5 fees, OPT fees and the 60-day grace period. Public charge litigation updates are on our tracking page.
There are three ways to change a rule like these:
- The agency changes it. It has to go through a new rulemaking: publish notice in the Federal Register, then take public comment (5 U.S.C. 553).
- A court sets it aside. If a court finds an agency action unlawful, it can hold it unlawful and set it aside (5 U.S.C. 706).
- Congress acts. It can pass a new law, or use the Congressional Review Act to pass a joint resolution disapproving a rule, which also goes to the President for signature (5 U.S.C. 801, 802).
The election affects the vote counts in the chambers on the third route. The first two do not go through a congressional vote.
What this means for you: the rows already in effect still apply today. The rows marked "proposed" are not in effect, and you can still submit a comment.
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04 Depending on your situation, what has the election changed so far?
If you are waiting on a green card priority date. The Visa Bulletin is published monthly by the State Department, and it queues people by priority date within the numbers set by law. The election does not by itself move next month's dates. The December bulletin has not been published yet, and our bulletin page will be updated when it is out.
If you are on H-1B or about to enter the lottery. The yearly 65,000 plus 20,000 is in the statute, and changing it takes an act of Congress. The $100,000 condition comes from a presidential proclamation, not from the statute. The proclamation, as extended, runs through September 21, 2027 unless it is extended again.
If you are an F-1 student on OPT. OPT is set out in federal regulations (8 CFR 214.2(f)(10)), not in the statute. The fee proposal is not a rule today, and until November 9 you can submit a comment on regulations.gov.
If you were laid off while on H-1B. The current rule gives up to 60 days (8 CFR 214.1(l)(2)) and it still applies. The proposal to eliminate it is open for comment until November 10, and the agency would still have to finalize it afterward.
If you have already filed an I-485. The election did not change any review rule that is already in effect. Whether the rows in effect in the table above relate to your case is something to check against the official text.
05 Which dates are worth marking?
| Date | What |
|---|---|
| November 9 | Comments close on the proposed OPT fee rule |
| November 10 | Comments close on the proposed rule eliminating the 60-day grace period |
| November 30 | New EB-5 fees take effect |
| December 11 | DHS stopgap funding expires |
| January 3, 2027 | Terms of the new Congress begin |
| September 21, 2027 | The H-1B $100,000 entry restriction expires, unless extended again |
06 What don't we know?
More than we do know. Whether the new Congress will take up immigration legislation, which bill, and when it would vote are all unsettled, and we are not guessing. When a specific bill is under consideration, we will wait until it has an official page on congress.gov before writing about it, and we will not treat rumor as news.
Sources
- Statutes: INA 201 (8 U.S.C. 1151), 202 (1152), 203 (1153), 214(g) (1184)
- Constitution: Article I, Sections 7 and 9, 20th Amendment
- Appropriations: Public Law 119-103, CRS R49427, DOJ EOIR fiscal 2027 budget justification, USCIS 2024 final fee rule (89 FR 6194)
- Visa Bulletin: State Department Visa Bulletin page (on November 4 it showed November 2026 as current and the next issue as "Coming Soon")
- Agency rules: see the Federal Register links in the table in section 03
- Rulemaking and judicial review: 5 U.S.C. 553, 706, 801, 802
- Election results: AP report on control of Congress, updated November 4, 2026