New USCIS Policies Impacting Asylum Applicants, Refugees,
and People from “High-Risk” Countries
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has implemented new policies that will significantly impact the processing of
various immigration applications, including pausing processing for various benefits requests and ordering the re-review and potential re
processing of previously approved applications. The new policies will likely cause processing delays not only for these specific applications,
but for all applications submitted to USCIS.
Who Is Affected?
1. Individuals from 19 “High-Risk” Countries:
• Some restrictions apply to individuals who were born in or
are citizens of countries identified as “high-risk” in the June 4
Presidential Proclamation (updated December 16): Afghanistan,
Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burma,
Burundi, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba,
Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Gabon, The Gambia, Haiti,
Iran, Laos, Libya, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, People
with Palestinian Authority-Issued travel documents, Senegal,
Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Togo,
Tonga, Turkmenistan, Venezuela, Yemen, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
More countries may be added to the travel ban list in the future,
and by extension may be subject to the policies below.
• USCIS paused final decisions of most currently pending USCIS
applications for applicants from these countries, regardless of
entry date. These include, but are not limited to:
Nonimmigrant visa applications (ex. H-1B, TN, O-1 visas)
Green card applications
Applications for citizenship (including already scheduled oath
ceremonies)
Note that limited application types will continue to be decided,
despite the pause. Speak to your attorney to determine if you fall
into one of the exceptions.
• USCIS has also stated they will re-examine all approved
applications for individuals from these countries. USCIS has not
provided guidance on the scope of this review yet, but individuals
may be called in for another interview.
• When USCIS adjudicates or re-reviews applications from these
countries, they may consider the fact that an individual is from one
of these countries as a significant negative discretionary factor in
certain applications, like requests to extend, change of status, or
green cards.
2. Asylum Seekers and Applicants for Withholding of Removal
• USCIS has paused final processing of all I-589 asylum and
withholding of removal applications, regardless of the individual’s
nationality or country of birth.
• This includes approvals, denials, and closure of cases.
• USCIS may still review these files and schedule interviews, but
they will not issue final decisions.
• Individuals can still seek asylum but should speak to an immigration
attorney to see how this recent policy change will affect their case.
3. Refugees
• USCIS has paused processing of all pending green card
applications for refugees admitted to the U.S. between January 21,
2021, and February 20, 2025.
• USCIS plans to re-review and potentially re-interview all refugee
applications for those admitted to the U.S. during that period.
• The pause and re-review includes derivative family members and
follow-to-join refugees who arrived in the U.S. during the same
period.
When Will These Pauses End?
No end date has been announced as of February 27, 2026