By: Richard Hanus, Esq.
December 4, 2025
A Pause Impacting Immigration Applicants from 19 “High Risk” Nations
Foreign nationals from Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela now face indefinite delays for the processing of most U.S. immigration related applications. According to a recent Presidential Proclamation entitled, “Restricting the Entry of Foreign Nationals To Protect the United States From Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats”, decision-making and final processing for folks from the above countries, and on some of the most commonly filed immigration applications will be paused, including:
N-400 Application for Naturalization, I-485 Application for Adjustment of Status, I-589 Application for Asylum/Withholding of Removal, I-751 Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence, I-90 Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card and
I-131 Application for Travel Document/Advance Parole
As part of this processing pause, applicants from the above 19 nations will have their filings undergo a further, and undetermined comprehensive review. Already approved applicants from these nations, and who entered the U.S. on or after January 20, 2021, will undergo an in depth re-review. Also, applicants for U.S. citizenship (naturalization) who were already approved and just awaiting scheduling of their oath ceremony, will have their process come to a halt. The focus of the increased scrutiny, per the language of the proclamation, will be on possible national security and/or public safety risks posed by the applicant.
As has become the norm in the aftermath of broad, often overreaching, Executive Branch initiatives under this administration, we can expect a flurry of lawsuits challenging the legality of the above policies, especially regarding its open-ended duration and scope.
H-1B Work Visa Applicants to Undergo Enhanced Scrutiny
H-1B work visa applicants, including their dependent family members, can now expect their social media activity to be the subject of additional scrutiny as part of the U.S. Department of State’s new vetting policy at U.S. consular posts overseas. H-1B applicants will join other visa candidates, such as those seeking to study or visit the U.S., as having their social media activity examined more closely, including Linked-In profiles and other forms of online presence. Of particular concern, as noted in the Department of State directive, are foreign nationals who have publicly supported activities seen as anti-American, harming Americans or American interests, or activities involving “censorship” of free speech, such as those who have worked in fields known for involving misinformation, disinformation, content moderation, fact-checking, compliance, online safety and the like. Further, H-1B visa applicants and their dependents will now be required to set their social media profiles to “public”, thereby allowing U.S. consular officers to get complete access to their social media activities.
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