2025 Immigration Law Updates

Here are recent decisions and developments in the field of U.S. immigration law. These updates focus in particular on matters described in Nolo's various books on immigration legal matters.

Nationals of Travel-Banned Countries at Risk of Having Approved Applications Reconsidered

In a December 2025 Policy Memorandum announcing increased vetting for people from the countries subject to a travel ban or restrictions (of which there are currently 19), USCIS announced it will conduct a "comprehensive re-review" of approved benefit requests for people from the countries listed in Presidential Proclamation 10949 if they entered the United States on or after January 20, 2021 and before February 20, 2025.

The 19 countries include: Afghanistan, Burma, Burundi, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, Turkmenistan, Venezuela, and Yemen. (This list could be expanded in the future.)

What does this mean? If you are from one of these countries and have been approved for any sort of U.S. immigration benefit and your last entry to the United States was on January 20, 2021 or any date thereafter, your status might not be as secure as you thought. This could apply to both temporary visas and permanent residence based on family, employment, the lottery, and so on, as well as asylum, T and U visas, naturalized citizenship, and so on.

Even if you've done nothing wrong, heightened standards might be applied to you, particularly in any decision where the U.S. government decision was considered "discretionary." The government may now view the fact that you're from one of the travel-banned countries as a significant negative discretionary factor, which you will be asked to overcome with evidence of your value as a member of U.S. society.

The procedures for conducting this review have not yet been announced. It's possible that you will be alerted that your case is under review and/or asked to submit more documentation or attend an interview. Or you might simply hear nothing, if your case is reviewed and cleared. With time, the immigration legal community will have more to share about how this is playing out.

Action Paused on All Applications From Nationals of 19 Travel-Banned Countries

The U.S. government announced in December of 2025 that it would pause applications for any and all immigration benefits by nationals of the countries on the travel-ban list established earlier this year. (See list in the entry above.) The rationale is to give it time to "fully assess all national security and public safety threats along with any other related grounds of inadmissibility or ineligibility" for each applicant. The announcement was short, and didn't include any list of the types of applications or benefits covered, nor any exceptions (not even for children).

This has led members of the immigration legal community to conclude that practically anything a foreign national from one of the 19 countries now subject to a travel ban will be put into limbo for now, neither approved nor denied. This might, for example, include:

• applications for asylum
• applications to adjust status through employment, family, the lottery, asylum or refugee status, and so on (Form I-485)
• applications for T and U visas
• applications for green card renewal (Form I-131)
• applications to remove the conditions on residence (Form I-131)
• applications for advance parole or refugee travel documents (Form I-131)
• applications for Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) status
• applications for naturalized citizenship (as well as swearing-in ceremonies for approved applicants).

This doesn't mean you shouldn't submit an application for immigration benefits. Many such applications are time-sensitive, and you risk losing eligibility if you wait. By submitting your application, you at least establish your place in line (and if you're applying for asylum, you hopefully start the clock on when you might be eligible for a work permit. And you should comply with any USCIS or U.S. government requests for follow-up action, such as submitting added evidence or attending an interview or fingerprinting appointment.

What this policy change does mean is that you are likely to wait a very long time (possibly years) for any sort of answers. Severe processing delays are expected across the board as U.S. officials address this situation.

U.S. Air Travelers Lacking REAL-ID Will Face $45 Fee in February 2026

In a December 1, 2025 press release, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said that U.S. air travelers who haven't yet upgraded from a regular driver's license to a Real ID will, starting February 1, 2026, be charged a $45 processing fee. (Alternatively, they can carry a passport or other acceptable form of identification such as a DHS trusted traveler card (Global Entry, NEXUS, SENTRI, or FAST), U.S. Department of Defense ID, permanent resident card (green card), border crossing card, tribal card, and so on.)

The idea behind the fee is that the travelers will need to have their identities confirmed through a verification system called "TSA Confirm.ID." To avoid delay at the airport, TSA suggests paying the fee before traveling. The press release doesn't explain how to do that, however. Hopefully it will eventually be an option at https://www.tsa.gov/real-id.

U.S. Government Pauses All Asylum and Refugee Adjustment Applications

Following the November 2025 shooting of National Guard members by an Afghan immigrant in Washington, D.C., the Trump administration has announced that it's pausing all asylum decisions. (Unlike some of the pauses it has declared recently, this isn't limited to nationals of certain countries.) This will be in effect until the government "can ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible." Given that vetting procedures were quite demanding in the past, it's an open question how long this will take.

With regard to refugees, USCIS is pausing decisions on adjustment of status (the green card application that refugees must submit after one year in the United States). Again, this is regardless of country of origin. However, there's a date limitation: It applies only to refugees who entered between January 21, 2021, and February 20, 2025. It will also include derivative family members and follow-to-join refugees who arrived in the United States during the same time period.

Despite these pauses on agency action, if you receive any notices asking you to take action on your case, such as to have biometrics (fingerprints) done or to provide more evidence in response to an RFE or NOID, you should do so. Failure to act could result in your case being viewed as abandoned.

U.S. Government Pauses Visa Issuances to All Afghan Nationals

In the wake of the November, 2025 shooting of National Guard members that was perpetrated by an immigrant from Afghanistan, the U.S. government, including the DOS and USCIS, have announced they're pausing all visa issuances to Afghan nationals applying with an Afghan passport. This includes Afghan Special Immigrant Visas (Afghan SIVs), which are granted to those who were employed by or on behalf of the U.S. government when it was militarily involved in their country.

Although applicants might still be called in for visa appointments, no visas or applications for lawful permanent residence will be granted at this time. What happens next is uncertain.

Existing HR1 Fees Already Being Raised by USCIS

If you are planning to submit any of the above applications and can possibly do so before 2026, you could save some money.

New Risks to Attending Adjustment of Status Interview

In past years, after applying to adjust status (get a green card within the United States through a USCIS office), you were recognized to be in lawful immigration status and could comfortably wait until your interview and (if all went well) for approval as a lawful U.S. resident.

That has changed, however, owing to Trump Administration enforcement priorities. Without warning, people attending adjustment interviews have been arrested and detained by ICE. It's not a consistent practice, but attorneys have observed that these actions have mostly been directed at people who either:

• entered the U.S. without inspection (illegally)
• have an outstanding order of removal on file
• fell out of lawful immigration status while waiting for their adjustment interview (in other words, their permitted stay expired or ended, most likely under a visa), or
• are claiming they entered the U.S. lawfully because they were "waved through" at a border point without actually receiving an I-94 or other documentation.

If you fit any of these criteria, or otherwise have reason for concern, consult an immigration attorney. At the very least, if you've ever been arrested by U.S. immigration authorities, it would be worth submitting a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to get a copy of your file.

Refugee Limit for Fiscal Year 2026 Set at 7,500 People

In an order published in the U.S. Federal Register on October 31, 2025, the Trump administration announced it is allotting 7,500 refugee slots for fiscal year 2026 (October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026). The Executive Branch sets this limit annually; the numerical limit has averaged over 100,000 in past years. However, in the Trump Administration's first year, it went down to basically zero.

The exception is that this administration has been unrolling the welcome mat for white South Africans, or Afrikaners. And indeed, the announcement of 2026 slots said these would "primarily be allocated among Afrikaners ... and other victims of illegal or unjust discrimination in their respective homelands." The notice did not provide further details on who might meet this criteria. Refugee advocates have criticized the announcement, stating for example that, "At a time of crisis in countries ranging from Afghanistan to Venezuela to Sudan and beyond, concentrating the vast majority of admissions on one group undermines the program's purpose as well as its credibility."

DHS Will No Longer Automatically Extend Employee Authorization Documents (EADs) While Renewal Pending

In the past, when USCIS was deciding on whether to renew someone's work permit (EAD); a process that can take many months; it would allow an automatic extension period, so that the worker's card could still be presented to employers as a valid indication of one's right to work. This automatic extension was, at times, set to as long as 540. But that will no longer be true for renewal applications filed on or after October 30, 2025, owing to a DHS interim final rule published in the Federal Register.

This policy change means that from now on, many workers will face potential gaps in their ability to seek or continue employment, even if the cause is government processing delays. The DHS's reasoning is that it needs to fully rescreen and approve applicants before approving them for continued work.

If you already have a valid automatic extension based on a pre-October 30, 2025 filing, this change does not affect you.

In the future, however, you'll need to file your EAD renewal request (on Form I-765) as early as USCIS will allow it, specifically up to 180 days before your EAD expires. The longer you wait to file a renewal application, the more likely you are to suffer a lapse of weeks or even months in your ability to work. Keep in mind also that working in the United States without authorization is a strike against you when it comes to some future immigration applications.

Noncitizens Entering the U.S. May Now All Be Photographed

According to an October 27, 2025 Federal Register announcement titled Collection of Biometric Data From Aliens Upon Entry to and Departure From the United States, DHS may now require all non-citizens to be photographed when entering or exiting the United States and may require some to provide fingerprints. (This will also be incorporated into the regulations 8 CFR parts 215 and 235.)

The new rules are regardless of age, with part of the stated reason being to stop child trafficking. The initial inspection might in some cases be carried out by airline or other carriers transporting travelers to the United States.

The goal is to create an "integrated biometric entry-exit system" that lets the U.S. government compares biometric data of arriving travelers with biometric data collected when the leave. Having this information will help combat national security concerns around terrorism, fraudulent use of travel documents (faked, stolen, or borrowed), overstays, unlawful entry, and so on.

The planners have found that facial comparison technology is the best way to establish people's identity and track their movements in and out of the country, with an accuracy rate of 98%. They'll be using not only the photograph taken on U.S. entry, but photos found in people's other immigration applications or passports to create a database for comparative purposes. Someone who, for instance, tries to travel on a sister's passport might be blocked U.S. entry on the basis of these facial comparisons.

Still, 98% accuracy isn't perfect. What if you arrive at the airport or U.S. entry point and are told that your photo doesn't match your previous or other photos? CBP or the airline or other carrier may, in that case, verify your identity in some other way, such as by taking fingerprints or doing a manual review of the travel document (as was traditionally done). If your appearance has changed drastically since your previous photographs (perhaps due to scarring or plastic surgery) you might want to bring medical or other relevant reports to explain this. Nevertheless, the government asserts that physical changes that don't affect bone structure, such as hairstyle or beard, make-up, and weight gains or losses do not affect matching accuracy.

Regarding religious headwear, CBP may request that the traveler adjust or remove it to the degree necessary for the full face to be viewable. If it needs to be removed entirely, CBP says it will endeavor to "provide as much privacy as possible."

Medical masks or any other "facial obstructions" will also need to be removed for this purpose.

U.S. citizens aren't totally exempt from this system of taking photos. However, they may tell the airline or vessel boarding agent or CBP officer that they'd like to opt out and would like to have an alternative method of identity validation used. This could, however, lead to delays or denial of boarding.

The system is expected to be fully implemented at U.S. commercial airports and seaports within the next three to five years. Refusing to be photographed could result in a determination of inadmissibility and denial of U.S. entry.

Has the October 2025 Diversity Visa Lottery (DV-2027) Been Canceled?

A bit of a mystery has arisen surrounding this year's diversity visa lottery. Normally, the window for registration opens in early October and ends in early November. Yet the U.S. government has not announced its opening date as of October 21, 2025, and the Department of State website continues to thank people for applying last year, while saying nothing about this year's lottery (in technical terms, DV-2027).

This has led some to wonder whether the DV lottery has been canceled altogether. That's not an irrational worry, since it is a type of immigrant visa that members of the current administration have expressed negative opinions about. Project 2025 stated "the diversity visa lottery should be repealed."

Nevertheless, there are signs that it will open soon. One is that the administration has instituted a $1 registration fee for all applicants, which they wouldn't likely do if planning to gut the program. In fact, the Federal Register notice announcing this new fee said it would take effect 30 days after publication. And since the FR publication was on September 16, 2025, some hoped the lottery would open October 16, 2025. But it didn't.

Subsequent to that, the November Visa Bulletin vaguely stated: "Dates for the DV-2027 program registration period will be widely publicized in the coming months. Those interested in entering the DV-2027 program should check the Department of State's Diversity Visa web page in the coming months."

Immigration attorneys speculate that the DOS needs time to implement a payment system for the new $1 fee and that the lottery will open by January, 2026. Updates to come!

White House Orders New "Gold Card" Visa: Requires $1 Million Gift to U.S.

A new iteration of the so-called "Gold Card" visa was announced by the White House on September 19, 2025 and meant to be implemented 90 days thereafter. This latest Gold Card visa will require a $1 million individual "unrestricted gift" to the United States or a $2 million gift if paid by a corporate sponsor on behalf of an employee. (There was an earlier Trump announcement of a Gold Card visa in February of 2025, but it required a $5 million payment.)

As an initial step toward implementation, the U.S. government has created a gold card website. This does not yet allow for applications to be submitted (if it ever will). It simply offers a place to enter one's name and contact information in order to be notified of follow-up steps. The website also teases the possibility of a "Platinum Card," which presumably would require an even larger gift.

Details of where this visa will go next are uncertain. A new visa category normally requires an act of Congress. To avoid this issue, the Gold Card announcement asserts that applicants will be allowed to qualify for either:

• the existing first preference employment-based green card category for foreign nationals with extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics (8 U.S.C. Section 1153(b)(1)(A)), or
• the existing second preference category for foreign nationals with exceptional ability in the sciences, arts, or business (8 U.S.C. Section 1153(b)(2)(A), with the bonus that they would qualify for a national interest waiver under this section).

Putting the Gold Card within an existing employment-visa category means applying for it won't be as simple as it might first appear, however. Even if we assume the U.S. government will overlook the fact that handing over $1 or $2 million isn't exactly proof of one's extraordinary or exceptional ability, visas in these categories are in high demand. And the number that can be given out per year is limited. Visa waiting lists normally develop in these categories, sometimes years-long. The waits tend to be longest for nationals of the People's Republic of China and India, owing to per-country visa limits.

Litigation over whether the administration's attempt to reframe the qualifications for the relevant employment-based visas is also a possibility, which could further delay implementation.

Don't confuse the Gold Card with the EB-5 visa, which is meant for foreign entrepreneurs who invest in job-creating U.S. businesses. Trump had earlier announced an intention to end the EB-5, though this latest EO doesn't mention that. Congress could, for all practical purposes, take the EB-5 out of reach of most investors by failing to reauthorize the Regional Center portion of the program, which allows for pooled investments. (This pilot program automatically sunsets unless it's reauthorized; currently, it is authorized through 2027.) The EB-5 might still be the more attractive option for people who'd like to see a financial return on their large investment beyond obtaining U.S. residency.

Trump Administration Tacks on $100,000 Fee for New H-1B Petitions

The immigration law community was surprised by a recent White House Proclamation that will add a $100,000 fee to the existing fees paid by H-1B petitioners (employers). Citing "systemic abuse of the program" and its tendency to undermine U.S. economic and national security, the announcement restricts future H-1B entry to workers whose employer petitions are "accompanied or supplemented by a payment of $100,000." (A one-time fee, not an annual one.)

Although the order became legally effective on September 21, 2025, it won't affect earlier-filed petitions or people who already held H-1B visas or status in the United States. This was clarified in an update to H-1B page of the USCIS website, a new section called "Presidential Proclamation on Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers."

Exceptions to the new fee obligation can be granted by the Secretary of Homeland Security, but only in the "extraordinarily rare circumstance" where:

• a particular H-1B worker's presence is in the U.S. national interest
• no American worker is available to fill the position
• the H-1B worker poses no threat to U.S. security or welfare, and
• requiring the employer to make the $100,000 payment would significantly undermine U.S. interests.

That's going to be a high bar for any petitioning U.S. employer to clear. They'll need to send a convincing request with supporting evidence in order to attempt it.

A lawsuit over this new fee has been filed by a coalition of health care providers, religious groups, university professors and others, saying the new fee has "thrown employers, workers and federal agencies into chaos." Another such lawsuit was filed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. It alleges that updates to filing fees are beyond the President's powers, but require an act of Congress or amendment to existing agency regulations. It also states that the new fee would disrupt the complex visa system created by Congress, harming American businesses when the H-1B is meant to help them.

USCIS Changing Naturalization Test From 100 to 128 Questions

USCIS announced on September 17, 2025 that it would be changing the naturalization exam taken by applicants for U.S. citizenship; or more accurately, reverting to a version of the exam that the first Trump administration issued in 2020, which the Biden administration subsequently ceased using. The announcement has been posted in a Federal Register notice and went into effect October 20, 2025.

The most noteworthy change is that to increase the total possible civics test questions from 100 to 128. Also, the number of questions to be actually asked by a USCIS officer during the exam is going up to 20 (from 10), and the number of correct answers needed to pass the civics test is going up to 12 (from 6).

The actual questions asked during one's interview will be randomly generated by a computer. Although the 2020 version envisioned having examining officers ask all 20 questions even after the applicant had already clearly passed the exam (by having answered 12 questions correctly) or clearly failed it (by having answered 9 questions incorrectly), going forward, the USCIS officer can stop the exam as soon as one of those thresholds is reached.

The new questions' use will be phased in, as follows:

• If you have already submitted your N-400 naturalization application, or you file before October 20, you will take the earlier (2008) version of the civics test.
• If you file an N-400 naturalization application on or after October 20, you will take the new, 2025 version of the civics test.

With regard to applicants who are eligible to take a less demanding version of the exam based on age (65 or older with at least 20 years' residing in the U.S. as a lawful permanent resident), USCIS will continue to give a test that asks only 10 questions taken from a specially selected bank of 20 questions.

The actual list of new questions has been published on the USCIS website. These are the same questions as USCIS developed a few years back.

The recent changes will not affect the English language portion of the exam.

USCIS Phasing Out Checks and Money Orders for Fee Payments, Phasing in ACH Transfers

Starting now, applicants to USCIS for immigration benefits can pay fees via bank transfer by completing and signing Form G-1650, Authorization for ACH Transactions, and filing it with their application, petition, or request. The bank from which the money is drawn can only be a U.S. bank, with payment in U.S. currency.

The move was prompted by Trump's Executive Order 14247, Modernizing Payments to and from America's Bank Account. This new ACH debit payment option is in addition to the existing option of paying by credit card using Form G-1450. (You must choose between these two options; splitting the payment between them is not allowed.) USCIS will no longer accept paper check and money order payments after October 28, 2025.

For details, see the updated guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual.

Before filling out an ACH form, make sure your accounts has sufficient funds to cover all filing fees at the current time and going forward until the funds are actually withdrawn.

USCIS Requiring More Evidence of Good Moral Character From Naturalization Applicants

Showing good moral character (GMC) has always been among the requirements when seeking naturalized U.S. citizenship. In the past, however, showing the absence of negative factors; for example, no criminal record, no failure to pay child support or taxes, and so on; was usually enough to clear the bar. The applicant's character was expected to be in line with the standards of average citizens of the community in which they lived. It seems, however, from the language of an August 2025 USCIS memo, that the agency plans to raise the standard and require more affirmative evidence of GMC going forward.

The USCIS memo describes naturalization as "a significant legal transformation, an assimilation to a country that demands both allegiance and character" and says applicants will need to show "sustained community involvement and contributions" to this country. More specifically, the memo lists (in summary) the following possible indicators of GMC:

• family caregiving, responsibility, and ties in the United States
• educational attainment
• stable and lawful employment history and achievements
• length of lawful residence in the United States, and
• compliance with U.S. tax obligations (including full payment of any overdue taxes) and financial responsibility in the U.S. (including full repayment of overpayment of benefits such as SSI and of overdue child support payments or other family obligations).

Not surprisingly, USCIS will view negative behavior more harshly than it might have in the past, including "actions that, while technically lawful, may be inconsistent with civic responsibility within the community, such as reckless or habitual traffic infractions, or harassment or aggressive solicitation."

To affirmatively prove good moral character, applicants should consider attaching evidence of GMC along with their Form N-400 application for naturalization, such as testimonials from personal contacts who are community, religious, educational, and work leaders, teachers, and the like. Also submit evidence of stable work and any achievements in this or the educational realm. This is in addition to including evidence to overcome any negative factors in one's case.

DOS Refusing to Issue Visitor Visas to Applicants From Gaza

With its sole announcement apparently made via X, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) wrote on August 16 that "All visitor visas for individuals from Gaza are being stopped..." The agency offered no explanation or timeline other than that it plans to "conduct a full and thorough review of the process and procedures used to issue a small number of temporary medical-humanitarian visas in recent days."

In response, the Palestine Children's Relief Fund expressed grave concern, noting that the visitor visa category includes humanitarian medical visas. (See B-2 Visa for U.S. Medical Treatment: Who Qualifies.) It stated, "Blocking visa access for the wounded and sick children of Gaza is not merely a bureaucratic measure, it is a denial of their most basic right to access medical care."

DOS to Implement Pilot Program Creating a Monetary Bond for Visitor Visas

One of the biggest issues for foreign travelers seeking a temporary (nonimmigrant) visa with which to enter the United States is proving that they won't overstay their welcome. Thousands of visa applications are denied every year by the U.S. Department of State (DOS) because the consular officer who met with the would-be visitor simply wasn't convinced about that person's true intent. DOS officers tend to presume that every visa applicant is looking for a way to stay in the United States long-term, if not forever.

But now there's a new way for some visa applicants to (almost) guarantee their return home. The DOS has announced a 12-month pilot program that will require foreign nationals seeking tourist (B-2) or business (B-1) visas from countries with high rates of past visa overstays or other compliance issues to post a bond of between $5,000 and $15,000 ($10,000 in most cases) in order to receive visa approval.

The pilot program will begin around August 20 (15 days after it was announced in the Federal Register) and end August 5, 2026. The DOS may also amend this list throughout the pilot program.

Few country's citizens and nationals will be able to take advantage of (or have to deal with) this pilot program. The DOS website contains the list of countries. At the outset of the program, only Malawi and Zambia were listed.

In cases where the consular officer requires paying a bond, the applicant will have 30 days from the visa interview in which to do so, using ICE Form I-352 and the Pay.gov website. They will also need to arrive and depart via a pre-selected U.S. airport; that list, too, is on the DOS website. So far, it includes only:

• Boston Logan International Airport (BOS)

• John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), and

• Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD).

After the visitor makes on on-time departure from the United States, the bond can be refunded in full (though without interest). This will require making an appointment with consular officials outside the United States within 30 days of either leaving the United States or of the visa expiring without the person having used it for travel at all, or else having been cancelled at the U.S. port of entry.

Of course, travelers who overstay their visa or otherwise violate the visa terms (for example by working without authorization or committing an illegal act in the United States) will forfeit their bond money.

Transgender Athletes Can No Longer Get Visas for Female Sporting Events

In August 2025, USCIS announced that it has amended the USCIS Policy Manual in keeping with Executive Order 14201, Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports. Going forward (and retroactively for any applications that haven't yet been processed) athletes whose assigned sex at birth was "male" will not be allowed the following visas if seeking to come compete in women's sports in the United States:

• O-1A aliens of extraordinary ability
• E11 aliens of extraordinary ability
• E21 aliens of exceptional ability, and
• national interest waivers (NIWs).

More specifically, the Policy Manual states that with regard to proving identity in connection with an application for immigration benefits, the foreign national will need to provide their "biological sex as generally evidenced on ... [a] birth certificate issued at the time of birth or issued closest to the time of birth. Sex is not "gender identity." (See Vol. 1 Part E Chapter 5.)

Legal challenges are likely, and could be affected by the Supreme Court's coming decisions with regard to transgender youth athletes within the United States.

USCIS Warns That Filing Family Visa Petition (I-130) Could Lead to Deportation

In August of 2025, USCIS issued an Alert describing what it called "policy guidance" in the form of amendments to the USCIS Policy Manual. The stated purpose of the new policies was to "enhance our capability to screen and vet family-based immigrant visa petitions." In other words, the changes are all about increased scrutiny.

One statement in USCIS's summary announcement should be of particular concern to anyone filing an I-130 family visa petition on behalf of someone who lives in the United States without valid legal status: "we may issue a Notice to Appear if the alien beneficiary is otherwise removable since a family-based immigrant visa petition does not grant immigration status or relief from removal." (See Chapter 5 of the Policy Manual.)

In the past, when a U.S. petitioner filed an I-130, and of necessity supplied information about the foreign national's residence in the United States and lack of legal status here, USCIS basically looked the other way. Given the likelihood that the foreign national in such as case would eventually quality for lawful permanent residence (a green card), even if after a long wait, the agency presumably chose to focus on more pressing situations concerning undocumented persons in the United States.

That appears to be changing. Only time will tell, but for now, one should carefully consider the risks of filing an I-130, and perhaps even an accompanying adjustment of status application, in any situation where the beneficiary lacks lawful immigration status in the United States.

Budget Reconciliation Bill Adds Fee to Apply for TPS

Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, allows people whose countries are undergoing an emergency situation (such as civil war or natural disaster) to take refuge in the United States for a time. To apply, applicants must prepare and submit USCIS Form I-821.

In the past, there was a relatively low $50 fee to file this form, plus $30 for biometrics services, in recognition of the fact that applicants' lives have been thrown into disorder. However, Congress has added on to this fee starting in 2025, pasting $500 on to the existing fees (to be potentially adjusted annually for inflation). What's more, it has added to the cost of applying for a TPS-based work permit (EAD), so that not only will applicants have to pay a base fee of $520 but also $550 or $275 for renewals.

Budget Reconciliation Bill Adds Fee to Apply for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status

Among the many fee changes Congress mandated in its 2025 budget reconciliation bill was one creating a new application fee for applicants for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS). In the past, the fact that SIJS is for an especially vulnerable population, namely of non-citizen children living in the United States who have been neglected, abused, or abandoned by a parent was viewed as a solid humanitarian reason to make the relevant application (USCIS Form I-360) free to file.

The filing amount will be set at $250, to be potentially adjusted annually for inflation. At least this is less than most other types of applicants using a Form I-360 must pay. It might nevertheless be possible for low-income applicants to apply for a fee waiver.

Budget Bill Adds a Fee to Apply for Asylum in the U.S.

For the first time in U.S. history, people who have fled their countries out of fear of persecution will not be able to seek protection from the U.S. asylum system without paying a fee. The so-called Big Beautiful Bill that Trump signed into law in 2025 will charge asylum applicants a minimum of $100 to file a Form I-589 Application for Asylum and Withholding of Removal (to be potentially adjusted annually for inflation).

What's more, they will have to pay an additional $100 for each year (365 days) the application is pending, despite the fact that this could be out of the applicant's control, and add up to many years.

No fee waivers or reductions are available for low-income applicants or in any circumstances. As for how this fee is to be actually paid in immigration court, where there's no existing mechanism for collecting it, this is a work in progress.

Budget Reconciliation Bill Adds Fees for Temporary Visa Applicants and Entrants

In addition to other changes, the Trump budget bill created new fees that visitors to the United States (nonimmigrants) will have to pay both upon:

• applying for a visa (the "Visa Integrity Fee"), and
• entering the United States and receiving a Form I-94.

A newly instituted "Visa Integrity Fee" will require paying $250 upon being issued a nonimmigrant visa (regardless of income; no waivers will be available). This amount can be adjusted by the DHS and will be reviewed and possibly raised annually for inflation starting in fiscal year 2026. After fee collection, the money will be deposited into the general Treasury fund.

Applicants can, however, request reimbursement later (after the visa has expired), by showing that they:

• complied with all visa conditions in the United States, including the condition that they not work for a U.S. employer without legal authorization, and
• either left on time or within the five days thereafter or that USCIS granted them an extension of their nonimmigrant status or an adjustment of status to lawful permanent resident.

The second new fee will be charged to applicants when they actually enter the United States and receive an I-94 document (which contains information on their visa type and by when they must depart). The amount will start at $24, or more if the DHS decides to raise it; and will also be annually adjusted for inflation. Again, there will be no fee waivers. Nor is there any possibility of reimbursement.

In addition to these, certain Chinese nationals traveling on a 10-year B-1/B-2 visa will need to pay an "Electronic Visa Update System (EVUS)" fee. The law set the amount at $30, but said the DHS can raise it if it wishes.

Federal Courts Continue Blocking Trump Order Ending Birthright Citizenship

Immediately upon taking office in January 2025, Donald Trump issued an Executive Order (EO) seeking to end what's known as "birthright citizenship." By way of background, the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees citizenship to anyone born in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction of the U.S. government. This has long been held to apply to virtually everyone born here other than diplomat's children (who are largely immune from U.S. law).

The January EO stated that U.S. citizenship shall no longer be granted to children if either of the two following were true at the time of their birth in the United States:

• the child's mother was unlawfully present in the United States (commonly called an "undocumented" or "illegal" immigrant) and the father was neither a U.S. citizen nor a lawful permanent resident, or
• the mother was in the United States lawfully, but with permission to stay only temporarily (for example, she was visiting the United States on the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) or after being granted a U.S. student, work, or tourist visa) and the father was neither a U.S. citizen nor a lawful permanent resident.

The legal justification offered within this Trump EO is that parents in the above situations are not subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. Numerous commentators have disagreed, arguing that undocumented immigrants must follow U.S. laws, pay U.S. taxes, and so on.

The matter was soon taken to federal courts around the country by civil rights groups and immigration advocates. A federal judge in Washington State promptly put a nationwide temporary bar on the EO (pending further litigation) declaring it unconstitutional, and several other federal courts issued similar injunctions. Litigation proceeded to the U.S. Supreme Court. In its June 27, 2025 ruling in Trump v. CASA, it did NOT directly address the constitutionality of Trump's EO, but held that:

• the federal courts in this case went beyond their power by issuing nationwide or "universal injunctions," or orders that went beyond providing complete relief to the plaintiffs in the relevant case, and that
• the lower courts will need to reconsider their orders blocking Trump's EO, particular with regard to how broadly they ruled.

The plaintiffs in this case had presented arguments noting that this could create a patchwork of rights to birthright citizenship (or the lack thereof) across the United States. However, the Supreme Court basically took the position that this wasn't its problem to solve; at least in this particular case.

In response, a group of plaintiffs ("Barbara et. al.) brought suit in a federal court in New Hampshire, alleging that they were a recognizable "class" that includes all babies born on or after Feb. 20, 2025 who would be affected by the EO. On July 10, 2025, the judge certified the class and prohibited implementation of the Trump EO while the litigation is ongoing. In addition, the Ninth Circuit court decided in July of 2025 that the Trump EO is indeed unconstitutional, and issued a nationwide injunction, asserting this was the only way to provide complete relief to the plaintiffs while awaiting the New Hampshire court's decision. And a federal court in Maryland issued yet another preliminary injunction in early August of 2025.

If the Trump order is allowed to stand in some or all parts of the United States, government agencies will refuse to grant documentation recognizing U.S. citizenship to some people who were born here. The Trump order is NOT in effect as of this writing, however, nor is it retroactive. In other words, children born before the order takes effect (which will be July 27 of 2025, 30 days after issuance of the Supreme Court opinion) to a mother who lacks immigration papers or who is in the U.S. temporarily can be assumed to hold U.S. citizenship.

As for children who are born later, we'll have to wait to see what the Supreme Court says. In December of 2025, it announced that it would take up the matter of birthright citizenship again.

Pending Legislation Creates New Risks for Immigrants With DUIs

Getting convicted of a DUI or DWI (driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs) has always had legal implications for a foreign national, particularly if it involved any aggravating factors. A DUI could potentially making them inadmissible (if applying for U.S. entry or a visa) deportable (if they're already in the United States, even with a green card), and ineligible for naturalized U.S. citizenship.

Nevertheless, in the past, a single DUI, without aggravating factors, was possible to survive in terms of one's immigration status.

Possible new legislation could change that. Republican members of the U.S. Congress have introduced legislation known as the Protect Our Communities From DUIs Act. It would make any non-citizen who has been convicted of a single DUI or who has confessed to having driven while intoxicated (even if they weren't caught or convicted) inadmissible to the United States. It will also make non-citizens in the U.S. (including green card holders) deportable with an actual DUI conviction on record.

Experts expect this bill to move on to the Senate and ultimately be signed into law. This hasn't happened yet, but it's important to keep your eye on if you have any DUIs in your past. Submitting an application for a U.S. green card or naturalization could be particularly risky if the legislation ends up passing, because your fingerprints and record will be reviewed at that time, and you could be placed into deportation (removal) proceedings in immigration court. Even renewing your green card could be risky.

Talk to an immigration lawyer for a full analysis of your situation.

Travel Ban Placed on Nationals of Afghanistan, Haiti, Sudan, and More

Citing foreign policy, national security, and counterterrorism goals, Trump has signed a proclamation that all but completely bans travel to the United States from 12 countries and restricts travel from 7 more. (See the June 4, 2025 White House Fact Sheet and Proclamation.)

It went into effect Monday, June 9, 2025.

The order contains carve-outs for some visa categories, as well as for people whose entry is considered to serve U.S. national interests. Also, the ban does not limit or cancel the rights of existing green card holders, as discussed further in Who Is Blocked From U.S. Entry by 2025 Travel Ban.

More recently, news has come out that the Trump administration is considering adding 36 countries to the ban.

DOS Has Stopped Scheduling Visa Interviews for F, M, J Applicants

The Department of States (DOS) under the Trump administration has hit the pause button on scheduling F (academic student), M (vocational student), and J (exchange visitor/scholar) visa appointments. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has directed all U.S. consulates to await "further guidance" as the DOS prepares to expand "social media vetting" for all such applicants.

Although Rubio stated that already-scheduled appointments could go ahead, reports have surfaced of some (but not all) such appointments being canceled.

How long this pause might last is uncertain, though on June 18, the DOS issued a statement regarding "expanded vetting" that said "soon." They also warned that they'll be instructing applicants for F, M, and J visas will be to adjust the privacy settings on all of their social media profiles to "public." (Exactly when and for how long wasn't made clear.)

Would-be students and exchange visitors have wondered whether they can create a workaround by entering the United States on an easier-to-obtain visa (such as B-1 or B-2 visitor) and then applying to USCIS for a change of status to J, F, or M. However, this could backfire. The U.S. government could regard this entry-visa misuse as a material misrepresentation or fraud, which would result not only in denial of the change of status request but future inadmissibility. (Canadian citizens and nationals in the United States, however, face no such bar to changing status.)

Going forward, student and exchange visitor visa applicants will need to be cautious about what they post or share on social media in relation to U.S. government interests and their own intentions with regard to studying in the U.S. and returning home afterwards as required.

USCIS Will No Longer Help Applicants Get a Social Security Card

Until recently, anyone who filled out an I-765 (for a work permit/EAD), an I-485 (for adjustment of status) or an N-400 (for naturalized U.S. citizenship could answer some questions and ask USCIS to arrange that the Social Security Administration (SSA) would mail them a new or updated card upon their approval. Although the related questions remain on these forms, the program (called EBE or Enumeration Beyond Entry) has reportedly been paused for at least 90 days, with the possibility that it won't be restarted.

If you need a new or updated Social Security card, there's no reason not to go ahead and check the appropriate box and provide the need information, but chances are slim that this will result in anything. You will most likely need to apply for the SSN or card by visiting an SSA office. They are quite busy lately, so be ready for long waits.

New DOS Online Tool Allows You to Check How Soon an Immigrant Visa Interview Might Be Scheduled

The Department of State (DOS) has come up with a new web feature called the "Immigrant Visa (IV) Scheduling Status Tool." This allows overseas applicants for immigrant visas (U.S. lawful permanent residence) who are awaiting their consular interview to check on their local consulate's progress toward scheduling these.

Updated monthly, the tool lets you input your visa category and consular post, then gives the month and year in which the cases it most recently scheduled became "documentarily complete." For example, if you ran a search in May 2025, and got "April 25" as an answer, you would know that applicants who had turned in all their documents and fees to the satisfaction of the U.S. government in April were now being scheduled for interviews; a time lag of up to four weeks. Exactly when those interviews will be held, however, is not made clear within this tool.

REAL-ID Required Beginning May 8, 2025

Beginning May 7, 2025, if you plan to fly within the United States or enter a federal building, and you expect to present a state-issued ID or drivers' license in order to do so, you must make sure that it's REAL-ID compliant. That means the ID must meet minimum security standards set by federal regulations. For many people with drivers' licenses, this requires getting a new one.

A drivers' license is not the only acceptable form of ID, however. A passport, from either the United States or another country, is also acceptable, as are green cards, border crossing cards, tribal IDs, and the other IDs named on the TSA list.

For immigrants who lack status in the United States, however, this can be worrisome. If you don't have a valid, unexpired passport from your home country or other ID, you might not be permitted on flights. And even if you do have a valid passport, it flags that you're a foreigner.

Just to make clear, a drivers' license that isn't REAL-ID compliant is still fine for driving.

If in doubt about whether your drivers' license complies with REAL-ID, check with your state department of motor vehicles.

Hong Kong Residents With Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) Can Apply for a Work Permit

Certain Hong Kong residents who were present in the United States as of January 15, 2025 or were covered by an earlier grant are eligible for a protected status known as "Deferred Enforced Departure" or DED. This status will last through February 5, 2027. In the meantime, they are eligible for a work permit (more formally known as an Employment Authorization Document or EAD).

Even for those not planning to work, the EAD is a useful photo identity document, particularly since there is no separate application for DED. And for those who are planning to work in the United States, the EAD is crucial evidence of identity and employment authorization for purposes of helping their employer prepare the required Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification. (See Documentation Required to Work in the United States.)

In early April of 2025, USCIS posted a Federal Register notice setting forth procedures for Hong Kong DED-eligible persons to apply for this work permit. As with most EAD applications, it involves filling out and submitting Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization. See Filling Out Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, and use Category Code "A11."

Those who wish to travel outside of the United States and re-enter must also file USCIS Form I-131, Application for Travel Documents, Parole Documents, and Arrival/Departure Records.

USCIS will review each request on a case-by-case basis to decide whether it meets all the DED and EAD standards and will perform screening and vetting to make sure the applicant doesn't present any fraud, public safety, or national security concerns.

New Risks for Foreign Nationals Traveling From and Returning to the U.S.

The Trump administration's Executive Order 14161, which told government agencies to perform maximum vetting and screening on all "aliens seeking admission to the United States" or those "already in the United States," is having a palpable effect on visa decisions and border policy.

The people most affected are foreign nationals requesting first-time or renewal F or M student visas or J exchange visitor visas. Consular officers reviewing these must now refer applicants to the fraud prevention unit for a mandatory social media check if they are 1) suspected of having terrorist ties or sympathies (broadly defined to include anyone whose conduct "bears a hostile attitude" toward U.S. citizens, culture, or apparently political leaders), 2) had a student or exchange visa between 10/7/23 and 8/31/24, or 3) had a visa terminated after that October 2023 date.

Reports have emerged of CBP and ICE behaving more harshly than in the past in detaining and removing foreign visitors seeking to enter with either nonimmigrant (temporary) visas or green cards (lawful permanent residence). Evidence of engagement in political activities is apparently enough to land some would-be entrants in detention and ultimately deport them. (CBP has broad border powers, though green card holders should receive a hearing with an judge before receiving a deportation order.)

Because this is a changing situation, with U.S. government officials seemingly testing the limits of their power over foreign nationals, many experts advise postponing foreign travel whenever possible.

Visas Revoked for All Nationals of South Sudan

Secretary of State Rubio has revoked all visas for nationals of South Sudan, "effective immediately." (See his April 5, 2025 Press Statement.) The U.S. Department of State has been following up with revocations, along with denying new visas and halting entry to the United States for South Sudanese passport holders. Rubio's stated reason was that South Sudan has refused to accept deportees from the United States. According to press reports quoting officials of the South Sudanese government, however, the only deportee it refused was not even South Sudanese, but was from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Some DHS Messages Saying "It Is Time for You to Leave" Were Mistakes

In the last few weeks, the DHS has sent out mass emails stating that they're terminating the recipient's humanitarian parole, which means cutting off their legal permission to live and work in the United States. The language is stark and panic-inducing, ordering recipients to leave within seven days, and including the warning: "Do not attempt to remain in the United States—the federal government will find you."

The trouble is, many of these messages were sent in error. (Some were even sent to U.S. citizens; mostly immigration attorneys receiving mail on their clients' behalf, though the DHS failed to actually name the clients.)

It appears that the government's main purpose was to rescind the "humanitarian parole" entry that had been granted to people who crossed from the Southern border after having made appointments using a now-disabled app called "CBP One," in order to apply for asylum. But it sent the same messages to people with different types of parole (such as Ukrainians), or who didn't have parole at all, or who had already moved forward (perhaps after a CBP One entry) toward some other lawful immigration status, including U.S. citizenship.

You might notice that these messages also contain the statement that the recipient need not leave if they have ""obtained a lawful basis to remain." In other words, some people can ignore the emails. Many have since received a follow-up message saying that the first one was sent in error.

But if you received such an email or letter and are still in doubt about whether it applies to you, absolutely consult an immigration attorney. (Do not contact DHS itself; you're unlikely to get to speak to anyone who truly understands your situation, and you won't receive any added protection by following their advice.) Whatever you do, don't simply leave the United States without being sure you are legally required to, since this could jeopardize any immigration applications you already have in the system.

Immigration Court Denying Asylum Cases Without Hearings

The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) issued a memo on April 11 that could result in many asylum cases being terminated even before the applicant has had an in-court hearing. It instructs Immigration Judges (IJs) to "pretermit" (deny) applications deemed legally insufficient. In other words, if the IJ doesn't see prima facie ("on its face") possibility of asylum eligibility within the Form I-589 application for asylum, it can deny the case right there, and will not allow the applicant's testimony at a full merits hearing.

Immigration advocates intend to push back, based on case law saying asylum applicants are entitled to their day in court. (The memo, meanwhile, relies on 8 C.F.R. § 1240.11(c)(3), which states that the hearing is meant to resolve factual matters in dispute, but that a deficient I-589 presents nothing to discuss.) In any case, if you're planning to apply for asylum, this would be a good reason to hire an attorney rather than filling out the form on your own and hoping for the best.

DOS Revoking F-1 and J-1 Student Visas, Urging Students to Self-Deport

Thousands of students in F-1 or J-1 status across the United States have reported receiving emails from from the U.S. Department of State and/or from their designated school officials (DSOs) advising them that their visas have been revoked and/or their SEVIS records terminated. (SEVIS, or the "Student and Exchange Visitor Information System," is an online system by which schools and ICE communicate to track foreign students and exchange visitors.)

There are even cases in which neither the student nor the school received any notice that anything is wrong. It's only when the DSO checks the student's SEVIS record that they discover the termination (though rumor has it some of these were done in error, and will be reversed).

The revocations include cases where the student had a criminal record or DUI, but also some where they didn't. Still, DOS often provides no explanation for the decision.

The first email is frequently followed by one from ICE or DOS urging the student to "self-deport" using the CBP One mobile app. Many students have left the United States immediately, though this isn't necessarily required. A visa revocation is not the same as a deportation order; its immediate effect is only to cancel the student's entry document. It's not even clear that the current administration will treat a student who remains in the U.S. post-revocation as being "unlawfully present." Once the student has left the U.S., they will need to apply for a new visa in order to return, which could be problematic.

What's the factual and legal basis for these student visa revocations?

While some revocations are based on the student's criminal record, Secretary of State Marco Rubio points to a section of the law that makes someone deportable whose presence creates "potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences." (See Immigration and Nationality Act at I.N.A. Section 237.)

It appears that ideological and political grounds are partly at issue. This is in line with a recent DHS announcement that it would begin monitoring foreign nationals' social media accounts for what it deems "antisemitic" content. It narrowly defined this to include support for "extremists and terrorist aliens, including those who support antisemitic terrorism, violent antisemitic ideologies and antisemitic terrorist organizations." Rubio has, however, reportedly stated that most of the recent revocations were of students involved in pro-Palestinian protests, which critics note raises free speech concerns.

In other revocation cases, however, the reasons are less clear. In Indiana, for instance, the ACLU filed (on April 15, 2025) federal lawsuit against the DHS on behalf of 7 international students—6 from China and 1 from Nigeria—whose F-1 student visas were revoked without warning, prior notice, or explanation. A federal judge in Indiana has declined to put a stop to these revocations.

As additional basis for such revocations, the U.S. government cites its Foreign Affairs Manual (at 9 FAM 403.11-5(B)), which lets the DOS "prudentially" revoke a visa in certain circumstances. These include suspected ineligibility or basic lack of entitlement to that visa, as well as the DOS having received "derogatory information" from another U.S. government agency.

Do students or exchange visitors need to leave the U.S. upon receiving a revocation notice?

Technically, a foreign national student or exchange visitor should not have to depart the country until they've appeared before an immigration judge, argued their case, and received an order of removal. A visa is merely an entry document; revocation means it can't be reused, but it doesn't immediately end one's immigration status in the United States.

However, the DHS appears to be following the visa revocations with status terminations, which do require departure. Even more problematic is when U.S. immigration authorities arrest or detain the student, as has also occurred.

The ACLU and various states have filed lawsuits over this issue, for example in New Hampshire and Michigan, alleging a lack of due process. In some cases, judges have halted deportations, at least for particular plaintiffs. And the Administration has actually responded, reversing revocations in hundreds of cases, including many that were not from students participating in lawsuits.

Nevertheless, the legal battles are not over. Consulting an immigration attorney is all but essential if one receives a visa revocation. The attorney can help you either defend against deportation, obtain legal protection against being placed in detention (a temporary restraining order or TRO), or strategize about when and how to depart the United States.

In the U.S. Awaiting a Green Card? Think Twice About Traveling

In the past, someone who had spent time in the U.S. without permission (perhaps after a visa overstay) and then applied to adjust status or otherwise obtain lawful status in the United States was in a safe situation. They were known to U.S. immigration authorities and potentially on their way to permanent resident status. This was, for instance, the situation of many immigrants who married a U.S. citizen after spending time in the U.S. without permission.

That has reportedly changed under the 2nd Trump administration. The drive to deport immigrants en masse has led to a situation where people passing through airports and travel checkpoints find them self facing ICE interrogation and detention. Until you have a green card in hand, your safest bet might be a road trip.

Even returning green card holders are reporting extra scrutiny upon reentry. It would be wise to memorize your lawyer's phone number, turn off your electronic devices, and prepare to assert your right to a hearing before a judge. (The border officers do not have the power to turn back green card holders, only to refer them to removal proceedings.) Whatever you do, don't be intimidated into signing away your right to a green card (on Form I-407).

New H-1B Registration Period

This fiscal year's H-1B cap registration period has opened (on March 7, 2025), and will run through noon EST on March 24, 2025. In other words, this is the time when employers hoping to hire foreign workers for a job that's subject to the annual "cap" (85,000-visas-per-year limit) must register for an annual lottery with USCIS). Only those who are randomly chosen will be allowed to continue with the process and submit an actual H-1B petition (deadline between April 1, 2025 and June 30, 2025). See Steps Employers Must Take to Hire an H-1B Worker: Overview.

To register, employers must go through USCIS's website, following the instructions on its H-1B Electronic Registration Process page. The registration fee has gone up substantially, from $10 to $215.

Financial Sponsors of Immigrants Must Comply With Raised Poverty Guidelines for 2025

The U.S. government has published its 2025 Poverty Guidelines, which can be found on USCIS Form I-864. These figures, which are updated annually, are important to any U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident who is sponsoring a family member for U.S. lawful permanent residence (a U.S. green card) or U.S. citizens or residents petitioning for K-1 fiancés or offering short-term support to a temporary visitor on a nonimmigrant visa.

The legal purpose is to demonstrate that the U.S. sponsor's household income and/or assets are high enough to support the immigrating family members or visa applicants at a level above the poverty line. The exact required amount is set at 125% or more of the U.S. poverty line levels for immigrants, and 100% of these levels for K-1 visa and other nonimmigrant visa applicants. This amount goes down to 100% for members of the U.S. Armed Forces.

USCIS Developing Procedures to Require Undocumented and Other Foreign Nationals to Register Their Presence

On February 25, 2025, USCIS announced that it is implementing a registration requirement for certain foreign nationals who are living in the United States. Further details were published in a March 12 interim final rule in the Federal Register.

The registration will involve submitting a Form G-325R online, within 30 days of entry. You must fill in every field of this form, or it will not let you continue (meaning that refusing to answer certain questions is not an option.) Registrants will also need to undergo fingerprinting/biometric screening for purposes of security checks and (if over age 18), subsequently carry proof of registration. Parents are expected to apply on behalf of children who are under 14.

This is to comply with both a Trump executive order and a decades-old and largely ignored section of U.S. immigration law, 8 U.S.C. Section 1302. It is NOT a path to a green card or any sort of immigration benefit. (Do not confuse it with an old immigration remedy called "registry" which offered a possibility of lawful permanent residence to people who'd lived in the U.S. for a certain number of years.) This registration requirement appears to be merely an enforcement tool.

This requirement won't affect you if you already:

• have lawful permanent residence (a green card), are in the process of applying for LPR status, or previously applied but were denied
• have a work permit (EAD)
• have a border crossing card (BCC)
• were admitted to the U.S. with a visa (immigrant or nonimmigrant) or parole, or
• are in removal (deportation) proceedings.

The basic idea seems to be that if U.S. immigration authorities know you're here, and you can prove that if you're stopped and asked about the matter, you don't need to do anything further (other than making sure to carry that proof around with you). However, because of gaps in the drafting of these new procedures, you can't assume that just because the U.S. government knows you're here, you're good. Be sure to research the matter further and possibly talk to an attorney.

And, there are many categories of foreign nationals who seemingly will need to register, including those who are:

• in the U.S. unlawfully, having not been inspected and admitted upon entry
• Canadians who entered by land and were not given any proof of registration, or
• recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), Temporary Protected Status (TPS), or a similar benefits program and were not issued an EAD.

The obvious follow-up question is whether U.S. immigration authorities will actively use these registrations as a way to identify deportable noncitizens. Given the Trump administration's focus on mass deportations, such a possibility seems quite real. Again, anyone at risk should speak to an attorney before making a decision as to what to do.

Again, the USCIS announcement makes clear that registration is meant to let the government know who is here, thereby giving it a grounds upon which to penalize foreign nationals who fail to register. The penalties for failing to register can include prison time (up to six months) and monetary fines (up to $5,000) as well as deportation.

Additional criminal penalties can be meted out to registrants who fail to carry proof. This will be treated as a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to $5,000 or imprisonment for up to 30 days, or both. 8 U.S.C. 1304(e); 18 U.S.C. 3559(a)(8), 3571(b)(6).

The registration process will go into effect on April 11. USCIS recommends establishing an online account first, in preparation. However, given that lawsuits have already been filed attempting to block this new policy, experts say there's no point in setting up such an account yet, nor attempting to register. Keep a close eye on this space for updates.

And whatever you do, avoid any notario or non-lawyer consultant who want to charge you money to register before April 11 or claims that this program offers any benefits or lawful status. They are probably scamming you.

State Department Plans to Bar Transgender Athletes Who Don't Enter Their Birth Sex on Visa Applications

In February of 2025, in a document, titled "Guidance for Visa Adjudicators on Executive Order 14201: ‘Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports," the U.S. Department of State ordered its officials to deny visas to transgender athletes who seek to enter the United States for sports competitions.

What's more, the DOS will regard as fraud any attempt by such athletes to specify a gender on their visa application that doesn't match their birth sex. Such a "misrepresentation" might henceforth result in a permanent visa ban; in other words, will be a stain on their credibility that will cause any sort of visa to the United States to be denied. Lawsuits are sure to follow and might eventually reverse this policy, but in the meantime, any visa application by a transgender athlete, or possibly by any transgender person, should be considered high risk.

New California Laws Create Swift Path to Deportation After Minor Crimes

In 2024, California voters passed Proposition 36. Combined with some similar state legislation, this has made it possible for California prosecutors to charge drug possession and some property offenses that would formerly have been considered misdemeanors as felonies, if the person has certain prior convictions on record.

Foreign nationals in California, including those who already have green cards (permanent residence) should be aware that these changes create quick paths to removal. For instance, someone who possesses even a small amount of an illegal drug could be charged and prosecuted as a "drug trafficking aggravated felon" if they have two or more drug convictions already. See Can You Be Deported From the U.S. for a Drug Crime? for more information.

Laken Riley Act Expands Ground of Mandatory Detention for Undocumented

The first law passed by the incoming Trump Administration in 2025 was the Laken Riley Act (8 U.S.C. §1226(C)(1)(e)). It addresses the issue of which undocumented persons picked up by U.S. immigration authorities and placed into removal proceedings must be held in detention until those proceedings are concluded, as opposed to being allowed to pay a bond for their release. (Payment of a bond helps ensure people show up for hearings, because they forfeit the money if they don't.)

There was already a list of crimes leading to mandatory detention. This new act adds to this list anyone who is charged with, arrested for, convicted of, admits to, or admits to the essential elements of a crime of burglary, theft, larceny, shoplifting, or assault of a law enforcement officer, or any crime that "results in death or serious bodily injury to another person."

Critics point out that this statute is ripe for abuse, with a mere accusation of a minor crime being enough to land the person in a detention facility for months or years.

For more information, see Mandatory Detention: When U.S. Immigration and Customs May Hold a Noncitizen Without Bond.

Trump Rescinds Biden's Extension of TPS for Venezuelans

In the final days of his administration, President Biden extended the protected status of persons in the United States from Venezuela into 2026, in recognition of the ongoing repression and civil breakdown in that country. However, on January 28, 2025, Kristi Noem, the new Secretary of Homeland Security, vacated the Biden order. Thus TPS for Venezuelans is scheduled to end on either April 10, 2025 (for 2023 registrants) or September 10, 2025 (for 2021 registrants). This could further change as a result of various lawsuits filed to block this action.

Transgender Persons With "X" Gender on Passport Face Travel Uncertainties

On January 20, 2025, Trump signed an executive order claiming to "defend women against gender ideology extremism." It stated that U.S. government will now recognize only two sexes—male and female—and that these "are not changeable." Within 30 days, the order said, federal agencies were to "implement changes to require that government-issued identification documents, including passports, visas, and Global Entry cards, accurately reflect the holder's sex."

Newly appointed Secretary of State Marco Rubio followed up by freezing all applicants' requested changes to gender identity on passports. Anyone whose passport application seeks an "X" non-binary gender indicator will have their application suspended.

Fears emerged about the possibility of being unable to travel to and from the United States, including rumors of passports being confiscated. Lawsuits soon followed. And in June 2025, a federal judge in Massachusetts responded to an ACLU lawsuit by blocking the administration's banning of "X" markers and the changing of gender markers. It's a nationwide decision, but applies only to people who currently lack a valid passport, whose passport is expiring within a year, or who need to apply for a replacement passport because theirs was lost or stolen or so as to change their name or sex designation.

Further litigation on the matter is likely.

USCIS Waives COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement for Adjustment of Status Applicants

Effective January 22, 2025, USCIS will no longer require applicants for adjustment of status to lawful permanent resident to show (via their Form I-693, Report of Immigration Medical Examination and Vaccination Record), that they have been vaccinated for COVID-19. The Department of Status will likely follow suit concerning overseas applicants for immigrant visas.

Trump Halts Refugee Admissions to the United States

In an Executive Order titled REALIGNING THE UNITED STATES REFUGEE ADMISSIONS PROGRAM, the newly sworn in Trump Administration declared that because of the numbers of arriving refugees, the entire program would be suspended until the refugees' entry "aligns with the interests of the United States."

The number of refugees admitted to the United States has always fluctuated with presidential administration, but this will be a drastic change from the 125,000 that were allowed in annually under the Biden administration. For background, see Asylum or Refugee Status in the U.S.: How to Apply.

CBP One App No Longer Operative, Ceasing Asylum Application Opportunities at U.S. Border and Within

Soon after taking office, Donald Trump begin issuing executive orders cracking down on immigration. This included ending the use of a border app called CBP One, which was the only practical means for asylum seekers to make an appointment for an initial interview. (See Requesting Asylum at U.S. Border? What to Expect at Credible Fear Interview.)

A notice on the website of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) website advised users that the app was no longer available and that existing appointments had been canceled.

What's more, an Executive Order called GUARANTEEING THE STATES PROTECTION AGAINST INVASION has declared migration across the southern border to be an invasion, as a result of which it makes unlawful entry a bar to applying for asylum. This bar could be lifted in the future, but only if and when Trump says the "invasion" has ceased. (See Bars to Receiving Asylum or Refugee Status for more on who is ineligible for asylum despite legitimately fearing persecution in their home country.)

USCIS Issues H-1B Modernization Rule

Just before the end of 2024, USCIS, under the Biden Administration, published a new regulation making significant changes to the H-1B visa category. Its overall aim is seemingly to make H-1B visas more accessible and predictable for U.S. employers seeking to recruit and retain talent.

The main changes would:

• allow employers to include dependent family members on an employee's petition when sponsoring just one employee
• require government adjudications officers to defer to prior approvals when reviewing routine renewals for continued employment
• expand the F-1 "cap-gap" provision to extend student status and work authorization for the entire fiscal year (rather than stopping at September 30 before the fiscal year begins) when an employer requests H-1B status for an employee
• clarify when amended petitions are required for changes in employment conditions
• outline procedures for inspections and fraud detection efforts
• provide a clearer definition of the "specialty occupation" standard, and
• allow adjudications officers to ask employers whether they wish to extend the period of requested employment when the start date for the initial period requested has already passed.

The rule is supposed to take effect January 17, 2025. Its implementation could get mired in bureaucracy, however, since the incoming Trump Administration has expressed intentions to review or reverse all Biden-era regulations.

2024 Updates

Lebanon Designated for Temporary Protected Status October 17, 2024

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced various protective measures for Lebanese nationals who happen to be already present in the United States. The decision was made in light of ongoing armed conflict and extraordinary and temporary conditions in Lebanon, which prevent its nationals from safely returning.

Although Lebanon had already been designated for Deferred Enforced Departure status (DED) as of July 2024, this is an additional designation, which applies to anyone who was in the United States on or before October 17, 2024.

Lebanese nationals who apply for and are approved for TPS will be able to remain in the U.S. for 18 months with work permission while the U.S. seeks a diplomatic resolution with respect to the Israel-Lebanon border. Lebanese nationals who entered the United States after October 16, 2024 will not be TPS-eligible.

More information, including how to apply for TPS and a work permit (employment authorization or EAD) will be included in a Federal Register notice, which DHS is expected to publish in November of 2024.

In related news, USCIS also posted a Federal Register notice setting forth application procedures for Lebanese nationals with DED Deferred Enforced Departure who wish to request work permits. These EAD cards will be valid through January 25, 2026. The process involves completing and submitting USCIS Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization.

DHS Announces Special Student Relief and Employment Benefits for F-1 Students From Lebanon

DHS has extended various flexibility measures for F-1 nonimmigrant foreign students whose country of citizenship is Lebanon, or who have no nationality but who last habitually resided in Lebanon. Despite the normal rules, eligible Lebanese students may now request employment authorization if they are experiencing severe economic hardship, work an increased number of hours while school is in session, and reduce their course load, all without jeopardizing their F-1 status. These relief measures will last through the DED designation period, which ends January 25, 2026.

See the Federal Register notice for details.

Diversity Visa Lottery Opens October 2, 2024

The U.S. Department of State announced that the Diversity Visa Lottery was back for another year of entries from people in select countries around the world. The registration period (so-called DV-2026) began Wednesday, October 2, 2024 at 12:00 noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4) and ended Tuesday, November 5, 2024, at 12:00 noon, Eastern Standard Time (EST) (GMT-5). 

This annual program allows people from countries with historically low rates of immigration, who meet certain basic qualifying criteria, to enter an online drawing for the right to apply for a U.S. green card (lawful permanent residence). For Fiscal Year 2026, a total of 55,000 diversity visas (DVs) are available.

A diversity visa lottery registration entry can be submitted only using a computer or similar electronic means, at the State Department's website, dvprogram.state.gov. (By the way, if you click this link before an entry period opens, you'll see only language saying that last year's entry period is finished.)

Only one entry per person is allowed. If, however, one family member's entry is selected as a "winner," that person can apply to bring family "derivatives." This means a spouse (opposite sex or same-sex, if legally married according to the laws of the state or country where the marriage took place), as well as children under the age of 21 who remain unmarried through green card approval. (See Spouses and Children of Visa Lottery Applicants Can Qualify for Derivative Green Cards.)

The basic rules for the DV-2026 visa lottery have not changed much from those of previous years, except that unlike before, citizens of Cuba are not allowed to enter. It was NOT possible to submit an entry if from one of the following countries:

Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China (including Hong Kong SAR), Cuba, Colombia,
Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Republic of Korea (South Korea), Venezuela, and Vietnam.

People from all other countries can register. Realize, however, that you might run into other complications if your country does not have good diplomatic relations with the United States.

The main applicant must also meet strict eligibility criteria. For example, applicants must show that they have accomplished a certain level of education, to demonstrate that they are employable in the United States. (See Winning a Green Card Through the Visa Lottery for more.) They must also have a valid passport from their country.

Applicants will need to wait until May 3, 2025 to see whether they were selected to continue with this process. You will not receive any notification from the State Department, but will need to check the same website you first applied through, www.dvprogram.state.gov. You will need to have the confirmation number saved from your entry registration on hand. (See How Will You Know If You Have Been Selected for the DV Lottery? for details.)

The online list of lottery "winners" will be accessible through September 30, 2026. But don't wait that long to check whether your name was selected! If you delay, you're guaranteed to lose out entirely. The U.S. government always approves more diversity visa entries than it has visas available for. It figures that some people who register will later drop out or be denied as ineligible. But, its guesses aren't necessarily on target. (See What Do You Win When You Win the Diversity Visa Lottery?.)

If you don't act quickly, both in checking your selection and in following up afterwards with a visa or green card application, the visa numbers could simply run out before you finish the long and complicated application process.

New Requirements When Bringing a Dog Into the United States

Starting on August 1, 2024, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is instituting new rules for people bringing dogs into the United States. The details depend on where your dog has been in the past 6 months. Here's a brief summary.

If you are bringing in a dog or dogs that have, during the last 6 months, been only in countries that are dog rabies-free or low-risk, you will need to fill out and submit (via an online portal) the CDC Dog Import Form. (Here are the high-risk countries. If your country is not on that list, you're okay to fill out this form without taking additional steps.)

Plan ahead: You should submit the import form within one to three days of your planned travel, but will need to include a recent photo (jpg, png, or gif) of the dog, showing its face and body. .

When finished, it's wise to print out the receipt. (Showing it on your phone is okay, but in case of technical difficulties, you'll be glad to have the printout.) If the dog is traveling by air, you will have to show this receipt to the airline before being allowed to board. In addition, you must show it to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection official who meets you and the dog upon arrival into the United States. The receipt will be good for multiple U.S. entries for six months after being issued.

If your dog has been in any high-risk countries over the last six months, you will need to not only fill out the CDC Dog Import Form, but comply with vaccination requirements and obtain and present a certification of proving that the dog has had a rabies vaccination. What's more, dogs from high-risk countries will need to:

• appear healthy upon arrival to the United States
• be at least six months old
• have a microchip that can be detected with a universal scanner (and it must have been implanted before getting the rabies vaccine, or else the vaccine will be invalid).

With the proper advance planning, you should have no trouble bringing your dog into the United States with you.

Undocumented Spouses and Children of U.S. Citizens Offered Safer Way to Apply for a Green Card Starting August 18, 2024

WARNING: What's described next should now be considered historical information only. The program was rejected by a Trump-appointed federal court judge in Texas. The incoming Trump administration has been hostile to use of parole in the past, and so is unlikely to take any steps to revive it.

Based on a June 18, 2024 executive action by the Biden Administration, a new procedural pathway was opened up for foreign-born spouses who were in the United States without legal status (who had been living here for at least 10 years) and who wished to apply for green cards based on their marriage. This new pathway (called "Parole in Place" or PIP) was meant to solve a problem that was a trap for many undocumented spouses: It let them apply to have their most recent entry to the United States considered lawful (even if it was not; for example if they crossed the U.S. border without permission).

The reason a lawful entry to the United States is significant is that, without it, most immigrants are not allowed to use a procedure called "adjustment of status" (AOS) to apply for their green card without leaving the country (specifically, by applying through a USCIS office and attending their interview there). Instead, their only option (with few exceptions) has been to depart the United States for an interview at a U.S. consulate in their home country and also apply for a waiver of their unlawful-presence-based inadmissibility in order to return.

However, qualifying for this waiver depended on showing hardship to U.S. family members, which makes it an unattainable solution for many. Many have simply stayed in the United States unlawfully: The risks of a failed application were too high. A denied waiver could, at worst, result in being stuck outside the United States for years.

Unfortunately, not all undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens qualified. This PIP opportunity was available only to those who were already married by and who had been living in the United States for a minimum of 10 years before June 17, 2024. They also needed to show that they had no disqualifying criminal convictions; did not pose a threat to U.S. national security and public safety; were otherwise eligible to apply for adjustment of status; and deserved a favorable exercise of discretion by the U.S. government.

Step-children were to be included in the PIP application. A step-child, in immigration law terms, is someone whose natural mother or father later married someone else and who had not reached the age of 18 when the new marriage occurred. They would need to have been physically present in the United States as of June 17, 2024.

As for application procedures, the Filing Guide mentioned above contains details. It's online filing only, and involves submitting Form I-131F to USCIS along with supporting documents (experts recommended three pieces of evidence from each year 2014 to 2024 to establish continuous physical presence, plus a personal affidavit covering the various requirements and reasons the person merits this favor). Applicants would also need to pay a $580 fee.

If and only if PIP is approved could people apply for a work permit. (Applicants were NOT permitted to do the two applications simultaneously.) After PIP approval, those who want work permits would need to submit Form I-765 to USCIS, either on paper (in which case the filing fee was $520) or online (in which case the filing fee was $470.) Or if your income is low, you could request a fee waiver using Form I-912.

Upon approval for entry into this program, the foreign national spouse was to be given a three-year period in which to apply to USCIS for permanent residency. They were to be allowed to remain in the United States all that time and to receive a work permit (an employment authorization document or EAD) during those three years.

USCIS Raises Fee for Premium Processing of Certain Applications, Effective February 26, 2024

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced it will be raising the premium processing fee paid by certain applicants to guarantee quick USCIS processing (and avoid the inevitable backlogs of normal processing). The fee is in addition to the regular application fees charged by USCIS and the Department of State for visa and green card processing.

For example, many employers are willing to spend a large extra sum for 15-day processing of the forms used to hire non-U.S. workers either on a temporary or permanent basis. And premium processing is also available to some students and nonimmigrant visa holders seeking a change or extension of status.

In justifying this change, USCIS points to inflation as per the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers, and notes that it raised the fee last year, as well.

Here is the full table of adjusted fees:

Form	Previous Fee	New Fee
Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker	$1,500 (H-2B or R-1 nonimmigrant status) $2,500 (All other available Form I-129 classifications (E-1, E-2, E-3, H-1B, H-3, L-1A, L-1B, LZ, O-1, O-2, P-1, P-1S, P-2, P-2S, P-3, P-3S, Q-1, TN-1, and TN-2))	$1,685 (H-2B or R-1 nonimmigrant status) $2,805 (All other available Form I-129 classifications (E-1, E-2, E-3, H-1B, H-3, L-1A, L-1B, LZ, O-1, O-2, P-1, P-1S, P-2, P-2S, P-3, P-3S, Q-1, TN-1, and TN-2))
Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker	$2,500 (Employment-based (EB) classifications E11, E12, E21 (non-NIW), E31, E32, EW3, E13 and E21 (NIW))	$2,805 (Employment-based (EB) classifications E11, E12, E21 (non-NIW), E31, E32, EW3, E13 and E21 (NIW))
Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status	$1,750 (Form I-539 classifications F-1, F-2, M-1, M-2, J-1, J-2, E-1, E-2, E-3, L-2, H-4, O-3, P-4, and R-2)	$1,965 (Form I-539 classifications F-1, F-2, M-1, M-2, J-1, J-2, E-1, E-2, E-3, L-2, H-4, O-3, P-4, and R-2)
Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization	$1,500 (Certain F-1 students with categories C03A, C03B, C03C)	$1,685 (Certain F-1 students with categories C03A, C03B, C03C)

To find out more about whether premium processing could make a difference in your application for a U.S. work visa or green card, see Timeline for Sponsoring an Immigrant Worker for a Green Card and How Long It Takes to Get an H-1B Visa Petition Approved.

DHS Institutes USCIS Application Fee Changes Effective April 1, 2024

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) oversees the agency that processes most U.S. requests, namely U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). And USCIS charges fees to review and decide on various petitions and applications, such as for U.S. green cards and citizenship.

DHS regularly updates those fees, usually in an upward direction. This latest update, announced in January of 2024, is no exception; though a few fees were actually lowered. Some were also simplified, so as to bring the biometrics services (fingerprinting) fee within the main fee. And in many cases, applicants can take advantage of a $50 discount on the fee by filing online instead of on paper. (Unfortunately, many people attempting to use USCIS's online filing system have found it so riddled with glitches that the higher price to file a paper form becomes worthwhile.)

Most fees were removed for applicants in humanitarian relief categories, such as VAWA (for victims of abuse) and T and U visas (for victims of trafficking or crime).

Here are some of the changes likely to affect the most people:

• The fee for an I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, went up to $1,440 for adults. If you also want a work permit (I-765) and an Advance Parole travel document (I-131), you will need to pay separate fees. For the work permit, however, adjustment applicants will pay a discounted (half price) fee of $260.
• The fee for Form I-90, used to renew or replace a green card, actually went down, to $415 for online filings and $465 for paper filings.
• The fee for the Form I-539 Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status, went down for people who need fingerprinting (but up for those who don't). It is now $420 for applicants who file online and $470 for those who file on paper.
• The fee for a Form N-400, Application for Naturalization, is now $710 for online filers and $760 for those filing by paper submission.
• The biometrics (fingerprinting) fee for TPS applicants was lowered to $30.

For the full table of fee changes, go to the USCIS website's page of FAQs on this topic.

Biden Announces DED Protection for Palestinians in the United States

On February 14, 2024, President Biden took steps to protect Palestinians who were physically within the United States from having to return home and face Israel's ongoing military action, by designating them for Deferred Enforced Departure (DED). This designation will last for 18 months, until August 13, 2025.

Unlike with the similar and more often used Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program, there is no DED application form. It's not considered an immigration "status" in the United States, and it won't lead to any permanent status (such as a green card). Qualifying Palestinians will, however, be immediately protected from deportation, and can apply for employment authorization (using USCIS Form I-765) and travel authorization with which to leave and return (using USCIS Form I-131).

Not all Palestinians will qualify for DED, however. They must not be inadmissible to the United States or otherwise barred by criminal, security, terrorism, public safety, or related grounds. (USCIS will check fingerprints, during a required biometrics appointment.) Also, they must not be barred on certain of the grounds that affect asylum seekers, such as persecution of others and conviction of a serious non-political crime prior to arrival in the United States.

The U.S. Federal Register notice covering Palestinian DED provides further details and instructions on how and where to submit the travel and work permit applications, and what fees must be paid (unless you qualify for a fee waiver). The I-765 work permit application is fairly easy to fill out, but be sure to enter "(a)(11)" in response to Question 27 regarding eligibility category.

Medical Exam Results on Form I-693 Will No Longer Expire