Court Ruling on Travel Ban Country Policies

Immigration Policy Update

A federal court ruled that several USCIS policies affecting people from travel ban countries are unlawful.

The court ruled the following are unlawful:

Global Asylum Hold Policy: Pausing decisions on asylum and withholding of removal applications.
Benefits Hold Policy: Stopped decisions on work permits, Green Cards, citizenship, and other immigration benefits for nationals of, and people born in, the travel ban countries.
Comprehensive Re-Review Policy: Re-reviewing some immigration benefits that had already been approved for nationals of, and people born in, the travel ban countries.
Country-Specific Factors Policy: Telling USCIS officers to treat nationality itself as a negative factor in immigration benefit decisions.

What this means right now:

It is still unclear whether this ruling means cases affected by these policies will now get decisions.
The court did not set a deadline for USCIS to process cases.
This ruling mostly affects people already in the U.S. with pending USCIS applications.
USCIS says it disagrees with the court order and will issue updated instructions after more legal review and as the court case continues.
The government will likely appeal this decision.
This case is separate from other policies. It does not include the public charge rules for people from 75 countries.
This ruling does not end the travel ban itself.

If your case was delayed or paused because of your country of origin, check your USCIS account and mail often. Talk to an immigration lawyer or trusted legal provider before taking action.

Find information on the travel banUSAHello