Immigration Alert For Pause And Review Of Pending Asylum Applications And All USCIS Benefit Applications Filed By Foreign Nationals From High-Risk Countries – Effective Immediately

On Dec. 2, 2025, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) issued a Policy Memorandum titled, "Hold and Review of all Pending Asylum Applications and all USCIS Benefit Applications Filed by Aliens from High-Risk Countries."

The memorandum calls for the immediate (1) pause of processing of Form I-589 Application for Asylum and for Withholding of Removal for all individuals regardless of their country of nationality, (2) pause of processing for pending benefit requests for individuals from the 19 countries listed in the preexisting Travel Ban (Presidential Proclamation 10949 — see below), and (3) comprehensive re-review of all approved benefits requests for foreign nationals from countries listed in the Presidential Proclamation 10949 who entered the United States on or after Jan. 20, 2021.

This is a rapidly developing situation. While the Policy Memorandum is clear as to its applicability to specific cases, ambiguities do exist as to the extent of case processes this halt applies to. These gaps are discussed further below.

Key Takeaways:

All pending I-589 Asylum and Withholding of Removal Applications will be placed on hold until a more comprehensive review is completed.

Individuals from countries listed in the previous Presidential Proclamation (10949) are having processing of their applications frozen and may be subject to additional scrutiny, including potentially mandatory interviews, even after their benefit has been approved.

Details:

Citing national security and public safety, the USCIS has (1) halted all asylum decisions regardless of immigrant nationality, as well as (2) placed a hold on pending benefit requests for individuals from travel ban countries who entered the United States on or after Jan. 20, 2021. The travel ban countries, as outlined in the Presidential Proclamation 10949 are as follows:

• Afghanistan.
• Burma.
• Chad.
• Republic of the Congo.
• Equatorial Guinea.
• Eritrea.
• Haiti.
• Iran.
• Libya.
• Somalia.
• Sudan.
• Yemen.
• Burundi.
• Cuba.
• Laos.
• Sierra Leone.
• Togo.
• Turkmenistan.
• Venezuela.

The Policy Memorandum mandates that individuals falling under either of the above criteria undergo a thorough re-review process, including potentially additional interviews, to fully assess all national security and public safety threats. This screening will be completed on a case-by-case basis. It is expected that the recently issued USCIS guidance on Adjudication of Discretionary Benefits will impact the re-review process – the guidance calling for the consideration of country-specific information as a "significant negative factor" during vetting of individuals from the travel ban countries. If an additional interview is required, it shall not be waivable under any circumstances.

Within 90 days of the issuance of this memorandum, USCIS will create a priority list of cases for review, interview, re-interview, and adjudication.

What We Know:

• All pending I-589 Asylum and Withholding of Removal Applications will be placed on hold until subsequent review has taken place, therefore no new grants of asylum through USCIS are expected in the interim.
• The travel ban country list applies to individuals not only with one of these countries as their country of citizenship but also their country of birth.
• The pause on approval of benefits for individuals from travel ban countries specifically enumerated in the guidance includes: I-485 Adjustment of Status, I-90 Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card, Form N-470 Application to Preserve Residence for Naturalization, Form I-751 Petition to Remove Conditions, and Form I-131 Application for Travel Documents.
• Naturalization Oath Ceremonies have already been cancelled for individuals from travel ban countries, green card interviews have been cancelled, and post-interview applicants have been instructed that a final decision cannot be rendered in their case.

What We Need Further Confirmation On:

• To what extent the pause on adjudicating cases filed by those from travel ban countries extends to case types not specifically enumerated in the memorandum is unknown. For example, the title of the memorandum denotes "all USCIS Benefit Applications" which could include extension of nonimmigrant status, change of nonimmigrant status, and many employment-based authorization applications for individuals from travel ban countries.
• How individuals will be notified of required additional processing, potential interview dates, etc.

Employers with individual workers from this list of countries seeking advice pertaining to this guidance should contact the Taft Immigration team for further details.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.