US halts immigration applications from 19 countries
Digest more
The U.S. has paused all pending immigration applications from 19 "countries of concern," meaning that even applicants with pending green card applications are on hold.
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced Tuesday it is placing a hold on all pending asylum applications and will pause all benefit requests by foreign nationals from 19 countries deemed “high risk” by the Trump administration.
10hon MSN
Expect massive visa backlogs: Ex-USCIS official's warning as Trump orders review of green cards
USCIS has now been burdened with additional task of reviewing all immigration cases from 19 countries of concern. The agency has been asked to proceed case-by-case, calling the applicants for interview and reinterview to decide whether they should be given asylum,
A former senior USCIS official has told Newsweek that the agency’s newly announced review of green card and other immigration applications could place a significant strain on resources and lead to widespread delays.
A new security review could delay citizenship and family reunification for people with roots in Africa, the Middle East and Latin America
The new rule, effective December 5, 2025, means more frequent renewals, longer backlogs, and a higher risk that applicants could lose their ability to work while waiting for approvals.
Twenty people became new U.S. citizens at Kiener Plaza in St. Louis to mark Independence Day 2022. (USCIS photo) While “there is still much more work to be accomplished” on U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ digital strategy, the CIS ...
guidance on how USCIS Premium Processing works and clarified its current inapplicability to the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program (Form I-526). As the EB-5 program continues to attract global investors, the need for efficiency and predictability in ...
Beginning January 30, 2023, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will accept Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service, for Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers E-13 (EB-1C) multinational executive and manager petitions ...
Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Stuart Anderson writes about immigration, business and globalization. Due to long processing times, since 2014 companies have been forced to pay $2.4 billion in “premium processing ...
Feedback