Update: Hold and Review of USCIS Benefit Applications Filed by Applicants from “High-Risk Countries”
This is a follow up to our December 5th, 2025 article USCIS Halts Asylum and Other Benefit Applications from "High-Risk" Countries.
Last week, USCIS clarified that, effective immediately, it is placing an adjudicative hold on all pending benefit requests submitted by or for foreign nationals from the 39 high-risk countries identified in the Presidential Proclamation (PP) 10998. The 39 countries are: Afghanistan, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burma (Myanmar), Burundi, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Cuba, Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Gabon, The Gambia, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Togo, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Venezuela, Yemen, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
A “hold” allows affected cases to be accepted for processing. However, final adjudication (approval, denial, or dismissal) will not occur until the hold is lifted or modified by the USCIS Director through a subsequent memorandum. There is currently no indication of how long the hold will last.
USCIS hold applies to all benefit pending applications and petitions filed by or for impacted foreign nationals including I-129 (H-1B, L-1, TN, etc.), I-140, I-485, I-131, I-765, N-400, etc. USCIS allows for limited exceptions such as I-90, N-565, N-600, and benefit requests for major sporting events or serving a U.S. national interest.
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