Effective immediately, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has suspended review of all pending immigration benefits filed on behalf of noncitizens who were born in or are citizens of 19 countries designated as high risk: Afghanistan, Burma, Burundi, Chad, Republic of Congo, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, Turkmenistan, Venezuela, and Yemen.
On December 2, 2025, USCIS issued a Policy Memorandum that extends its recent Policy Alert that announced the heightened scrutiny of specific countries as part of the adjudication of immigration benefit requests (i.e., adjustment of status applications, extensions of nonimmigrant stay, and requests to change nonimmigrant status). This new memorandum suspends review for an undetermined period of any immigration benefit application filed for noncitizens who were born in or are citizens of the 19 countries outlined as high risk in the Presidential Proclamation 10949, “Restricting the Entry of Foreign Nationals To Protect the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threatsˮ (PP 10949 or “June 2025 travel banˮ) regardless of their entry date into the United States. This would include individuals who were born in one of the 19 designated countries but are now citizens of a different non-designated country.
Additionally, USCIS will conduct a comprehensive re-review of previously approved benefit requests for anyone who is subject to the June 2025 travel ban from the 19 designated countries and who entered the United States on or after January 20, 2021. This review might require beneficiaries to be subject to an interview and potential re-interview even in situations where an interview is not typically required for the immigration benefit. Within 90 days of issuance of the December 2nd memorandum, USCIS will prioritize a list for review, interview, re-interview, and referral to ICE and other law enforcement agencies as appropriate.
Individuals from the 19 designated high-risk countries should anticipate:
Vialto will continue to monitor the impact of the new USCIS guidance and will provide further information as it becomes available.
For a deeper discussion on the above, please reach out to your Vialto Partners point of contact, or alternatively:
Manish Daftari
Partner
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