USCIS Halts Asylum and Immigration Benefits for High-Risk Country Nationals Following Security Review

On December 2, 2025, 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 memo:

 

1) Places a hold on ALL pending asylum applications (regardless of national origin) while a comprehensive review is undertaken; 

 

2) Pauses benefit-applications (e.g. green card, citizenship, other immigration benefits) for people from the countries previously designated “high-risk” under prior travel-ban / restrictions. Specifically: Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.

 

3) Mandates a re-review process for individuals from those high-risk countries who entered the U.S. on or after January 20, 2021. That may include additional interviews or re-interviews, and, if warranted, referrals to enforcement for further action.  

 

4) Instructs USCIS to compile a prioritized list of cases for re-review within 90 days.

 

Citizens from the above-listed countries will not have visas, green cards, or naturalization applications approved until further notice.

 

This order was put in place as a national security and public-safety measure following the murder of a US National Guard soldier by an Afghan national in Washington, D.C. on November 26, 2025. 

You can read the memo HERE.