USCIS Places Hold on Benefit Applications related to Travel Ban

On January 1, 2026, USCIS issued a Policy Memorandum announcing an adjudicative hold on all pending benefit applications filed by individuals from the “high-risk countries” listed in Presidential Proclamations 10949 and 10998 (Trump's Travel Ban).

Last month, USCIS abruptly enacted the adjudicative hold, as discussed by MU in December 2025, but that hold has now been made official USCIS policy.

 

USCIS’s adjudicative hold applies to cases filed by individuals who list a country from the Travel Ban as either their country of birth or country of citizenship. USCIS does not specifically list the form types affected by the hold, nor how long the hold will be in effect.

 

Furthermore, USCIS will re-review approved benefit requests such as Green Cards for individuals from Travel Ban countries. This may include interviews or re-interviews to reassess Green Card eligibility.

 

Are there any exceptions?

 

The following case types are exempt from USCIS’s adjudicative hold:

• Green card replacements (Form I-90);
• Replacement naturalization/citizenship documents (Forms N-565, N-600);
• Certain work permit categories (Form I-765);
• Benefit requests filed by professional athletes—including coaches and relatives—for the purpose of attending the World Cup, Olympics, or other major sporting event; and
• Case types that would serve a U.S. national interest.

If you have specific questions or concerns about this Policy Memorandum, do not hesitate to reach out to your MU attorney.

DOS Freezes Visa Issuance to Nationals of 75 Countries

On January 14, 2026, the Department of State announced a visa freeze for nationals of 75 countries.

The pause applies only to consular Green Card issuances. This means it does not affect temporary visas issued abroad or Changes of Status or Adjustments of Status filed within the US.

Dual nationals who have citizenship in at least one non-paused country are exempt from the pause.

 

Pursuant to its pause, effective January 21, 2026, DOS will not issue immigrant visas to applicants who are nationals of the following countries:

 

Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Burma, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Colombia, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominica, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, The Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyz Republic, Laos, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Pakistan, Republic of the Congo, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, and Yemen

 

DOS asserts the pause is required to ensure that immigrants from the affected countries do not become public charges in the US.

 

The DOS visa freeze is being enacted in addition to several other policies already in effect to restrict immigration, including the Travel Ban and USCIS's own Travel Ban restrictions.

 

If you are filing benefit requests as a national of one of the countries above, consult with your MU attorney to discuss your best strategies for filing.

February 2026 Visa Bulletin: Movement Forward for Most EB-3 Categories

The Department of State has just issued the February 2026 Visa Bulletin. This blog post analyzes this month's Visa Bulletin.

Visa Bulletin

Table A: Final Action Dates -- Applications with these priority dates or earlier may be approved for their Green Card (Immigrant Visa):

Table B: Dates for Filing – Form I-485 Applications to Adjust Status with these priority dates or earlier may be filed with USCIS:

USCIS will continue to use Table B: Dates for Filing chart for I-485 employment-based filings in February 2026. See: USCIS Visa Bulletin Date

MU Law Analysis

EB-3 All Chargeability, EB-3 Mexico, and EB-3 Philippines are the only categories to progress forward in February 2026, with forward movement of 5.5 weeks.

All remaining categories stayed steady and made no progress.

WEBINAR: H-1B Visa Updates

MU will be hosting a FREE webinar on Tuesday, January 13th at 2PM Eastern for our friends and clients.  Please join us! 

Join us for this FREE webinar to learn more about:

• H-1B $100k Payment Litigation Updates
• H-1B Cap Weighted Lottery

Please join us!

DHS Issues Final Rule for Weighted Selection of the Highest Wages in H-1B Cap

On December 29, 2025, DHS published a Final Rule in the Federal Register, amending the way in which USCIS will select candidates in the H-1B Cap Lottery.  

Instead of the existing random lottery system, USCIS will implement a weighted selection process that prioritizes allocating H-1B visas to higher-skilled and higher-paid workers according to their Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) wage levels.

Each worker’s OEWS wage level, which ranges from Levels I to IV, will determine how many registration entries that candidate will receive. Higher wage levels receive more entries—four for Level IV, three for Level III, two for Level II, and one for Level I—resulting in higher-paid positions having greater odds of selection while still allowing all wage levels to participate.

Although DHS received nearly 17,000 public comments on its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPR), issued back in September 2025, DHS published this Final Rule without any modifications. DHS notes that some commenters suggested that DHS should consider an exemption for healthcare occupations, especially in rural or shortage areas. However, DHS declined to carve out exemptions for certain industries or give additional weight for registrations in “critical sectors.”

The Final Rule is effective February 27, 2026, and will be in place for the H-1B Cap Registration Season for the 2027 Fiscal Year.