Independent Contractors, Interns, Temporary Workers, & Leased Employees

In January 2026, both Nasdaq and NYSE American proposed changes that, taken together, would materially reshape the listing landscape for smaller public companies. While each proposal addresses different stages of the listing lifecycle—continued listing for Nasdaq and initial listing for NYSE American—the combined effect signals a decisive move toward faster removal of thinly capitalized issuers and fewer remediation pathways.

Updates announced in the March 2026 Visa Bulletin indicate continued steady (and in some cases surprising) advancement of visa processing queues and relief from visa availability backlogs, especially in the employment-based second and third preference (EB-2 and EB-3) categories.

On Feb. 24, the Senate Armed Services Committee convened a hearing to confront the United States’ deepening reliance on China for critical minerals, a dependency both parties now view as a profound national security risk.