IMMIGRATION UPDATE – January 6, 2026
HEADLINES
USCIS Policy Memo Expands Hold and Review of Benefit Applications for People from “High-Risk” Countries — USCIS issued a policy memorandum (PM-602-0194) expanding the existing hold on all benefit applications for people from countries named in the travel ban to apply to the additional countries named in Presidential Proclamation 10998. It also directs re-review of all approved benefit requests for people from those countries who entered the U.S. on or after January 20, 2021.
OFLC Reminds Stakeholders of H-2B Filing Timeline for 2026 Peak Filing Season – The Department of Labor’s Office of Foreign Labor Certification reminded employers and other interested stakeholders that the filing window to submit an H-2B application requesting work start dates of April 1, 2026, or later, opened on January 1, 2026.
DOS Issues Updated Diversity Visa Guidance – The Department of State (DOS) released updated guidance on diversity visa issuance. The guidance notes that effective immediately, DOS has paused all visa issuances to diversity immigrant visa applicants. Applicants may still submit applications and attend interviews.
District Court Rules Against Plaintiffs in $100,000 H-1B Fee Lawsuit – In Chamber of Commerce v. Department of Homeland Security, a district court has ruled in favor of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), finding that imposition of a $100,000 fee for new H-1B applications and related actions were legal under a Presidential Proclamation.
DHS Finalizes H-1B ‘Weighted Selection’ Rule Without Changes – Under the new process, instead of a random lottery, registrations for unique beneficiaries or petitions will be assigned to the relevant Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics wage level and entered into the selection pool on a weighted basis according to those levels.
Multiple States Support Plaintiffs in Amicus Brief Against New $100,000 H-1B Fee – The brief asks the judge to temporarily block a new Trump administration policy to charge new H-1B nonimmigrant visa applicants a $100,000 fee. Among other things, the states and other plaintiffs argue that the fee would exclude nonprofits and schools that are unable to afford hiring qualified H-1B workers.
Trump Administration Plans to Build Seven Large Deportation Facilities Across United States – The Trump administration plans to seek contractors to build seven large detention centers, including converted warehouses, to hold 5,000 to 10,000 detainees each, for a total of more than 80,000 detainees across the United States. Sixteen smaller processing facilities will hold up to 1,500 people each.
European Leaders Denounce U.S. Travel Sanctions Attributed to ‘Censorship’ – European leaders were quick to denounce the Trump administration’s imposition of visa bans on five officials and activists who Secretary of State Marco Rubio said “have led organized efforts to coerce American platforms to censor, demonetize, and suppress American viewpoints they oppose.”
DETAILS
USCIS Policy Memo Expands Hold and Review of Benefit Applications for People from “High-Risk” Countries
On January 1, 2026 , U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a memorandum ordering USCIS personnel to “hold and review” all USCIS benefit applications filed by individuals from additional “high-risk countries” identified by Presidential Proclamation 10998, issued on December 16, 2025. The memo also calls for re-review and re-interview of certain applicants.
Note that the full and partial travel bans do not apply to dual nationals if the individual seeks to enter the US on a passport which is not listed in the proclamation(s). However, the adjudication ban applies to individuals if either their country of birth or their country of citizenship is listed in the proclamation(s).
The memo requires USCIS adjudicators to:
- Hold all pending benefit applications for nationalities listed in the Proclamation, regardless of the date they entered the U.S.;
- Conduct a comprehensive review of all policies, procedures, and screening and vetting procedures for benefit requests for nationalities listed in the Proclamation; and
- Conduct a comprehensive re-review of approved benefit requests for impacted nationalities who entered the U.S. on or after January 20, 2021.
The initial list of “high-risk” countries and related travel bans are listed in Presidential Proclamation 10949, issued on June 4, 2025. The adjudication pause on benefits applications filed by those nationals was announced on December 2, 2025 and was effective immediately. The expanded list of “high-risk” countries and related travel bans are listed in Presidential Proclamation 10998 issued on December 16, 2025. The related adjudication pause was announced on January 1, 2026 and was effective immediately.
Nationalities Currently Subject to USCIS Adjudication Pause
Restriction Type and Countries
Full Suspension
Afghanistan, Burma (Myanmar), Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan, Syria, Laos*, Sierra Leone*, Palestinian Authority Travel Document holders
Partial Suspension
Burundi, Cuba, Togo, Turkmenistan, Venezuela, Angola, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, The Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Tonga
*Laos and Sierra Leone were changed from partial to full under PP 10998.
OFLC Reminds Stakeholders of H-2B Filing Timeline for 2026 Peak Filing Season
On December 29, 2025, the Department of Labor’s Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) reminded employers and other interested stakeholders that the filing window to submit an H-2B Application for Temporary Employment Certification (Form ETA-9142B and appendices) requesting work start dates of April 1, 2026, or later, opened on January 1, 2026. H-2B applications requesting an April 1, 2026, work start date will be denied if they were filed before that date.
OFLC will randomly order for processing all H-2B applications requesting a work start date of April 1, 2026, that were filed during the initial three calendar days (January 1-3, 2026) using the randomization procedures published in the Federal Register on March 4, 2019.
If OFLC identifies multiple applications that appear to have been filed for the same job opportunity, OFLC will issue a Notice of Deficiency. If multiple filings were submitted during the three-day filing window, all applications will receive a Notice of Deficiency requesting that the employer demonstrate that the job opportunities are not the same. Employers that fail to establish a bona fide need for each application will receive a non-acceptance denial for each application.
DOS Issues Updated Diversity Visa Guidance
On December 23, 2025, the Department of State (DOS) released updated guidance on diversity visa (DV) issuance. The guidance notes that effective immediately, DOS has paused all visa issuances to diversity immigrant visa applicants.
DV applicants may submit visa applications and attend interviews, and DOS will continue to schedule applicants for appointments, but no DVs will be issued. Existing DV appointments generally will not be rescheduled or canceled, DOS said. No diversity or other visas have been revoked as part of this guidance.
District Court Rules Against Plaintiffs in $100,000 H-1B Fee Lawsuit
In Chamber of Commerce v. Department of Homeland Security, a district court has ruled in favor of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), finding that imposition of a $100,000 fee for new H-1B applications and related actions were legal under a Presidential Proclamation. “Defendants have the stronger position,” U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell said. “The lawfulness of the Proclamation and its implementation rests on a straightforward reading of congressional statutes giving the President broad authority to regulate entry into the United States for immigrants and nonimmigrants alike.”
Judge Howell noted, “To be clear, this decision in favor of defendants is not to dismiss or discount the past and ongoing contributions of H-1B workers to the American economy that plaintiffs highlight. Important as those contributions may be, the effects of the H-1B program on the American economy or national security, whether positive or negative, are simply not at issue in this case. The Supreme Court has long maintained that matters of economic and foreign policy are generally entrusted to the political branches of government and ‘rarely proper subjects for judicial intervention.’ ”
DHS Finalizes H-1B ‘Weighted Selection’ Rule Without Changes
On December 23, 2025, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced a final rule implementing a weighted selection process that generally favors the allocation of H-1B visas to those who are, in the administration’s view, “higher-skilled and higher-paid.” The rule governs the process by which U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) selects H-1B registrations for unique beneficiaries for filing of H-1B cap-subject petitions (or H-1B petitions for any year in which the registration requirement is suspended). DHS received 17,000 comments and made no changes from the proposed rule. Court challenges are expected to follow.
Under the new process, instead of a random lottery, registrations for unique beneficiaries or petitions will be assigned to the relevant Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics wage level and entered into the selection pool as follows: (1) registrations for unique beneficiaries or petitions assigned wage level IV will be entered into the selection pool four times; (2) those assigned wage level III will be entered into the selection pool three times; (3) those assigned wage level II would be entered into the selection pool two times; and (4) those assigned wage level I will be entered into the selection pool one time. Each unique beneficiary will only be counted once toward the numerical allocation projections regardless of how many registrations were submitted for that beneficiary or how many times the beneficiary is entered in the selection pool, DHS said. The new final rule is expected to make it significantly less likely that companies will hire international students when they graduate from U.S. universities.
The final rule, published on December 29, 2025, is effective February 27, 2026, and will be in place for the Fiscal Year 2027 H-1B cap registration season.
Multiple States Support Plaintiffs in Amicus Brief Against New $100,000 H-1B Fee
According to reports, multiple states joined an amicus brief supporting plaintiffs in Global Nurse Force v. Trump, filed in the Northern District of California. The brief asks the judge to temporarily block a new Trump administration policy to charge new H-1B nonimmigrant visa applicants a $100,000 fee. Among other things, the states and other plaintiffs argue that the fee would exclude from hiring qualified H-1B workers nonprofits and schools that are unable to afford it.
The amicus brief includes the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.
Another court has upheld the fee.
Trump Administration Plans to Build Seven Large Deportation Facilities Across United States
According to reports, the Trump administration plans to seek contractors to build seven large detention centers, including converted warehouses, to hold 5,000 to 10,000 detainees each, for a total of more than 80,000 detainees across the United States. Sixteen smaller processing facilities will hold up to 1,500 people each.
The larger facilities will be in Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Missouri, Texas, and Virginia. The smaller facilities will be in Georgia, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Utah.
European Leaders Denounce U.S. Travel Sanctions Attributed to ‘Censorship’
According to reports European leaders were quick to denounce the Trump administration’s imposition of visa bans on five officials and activists who Secretary of State Marco Rubio said “have led organized efforts to coerce American platforms to censor, demonetize, and suppress American viewpoints they oppose.”
French president Emmanuel Macron said the ban was “intimidation and coercion aimed at undermining European digital sovereignty.” European Council President António Costa said that “such measures are unacceptable between allies, partners, and friends,” and the European Commission said that “if needed, we will respond swiftly and decisively to defend our regulatory autonomy against unjustified measures.”
One of the targeted officials, former European Union (EU) commissioner Thierry Breton, is considered a mastermind of the EU’s landmark Digital Services Act (DSA). “Is McCarthy’s witch hunt back? As a reminder: 90% of the European Parliament—our democratically elected body—and all 27 Member States unanimously voted [for] the DSA. To our American friends: ‘Censorship isn’t where you think it is,’ ” Mr. Breton said on X.
Another target is Imran Ahmed, founder and chief executive officer of the Center for Countering Digital Hate. Mr. Ahmed, a U.S. permanent resident and British national, filed a lawsuit against Trump administration officials, resulting in a restraining order from a federal judge temporarily forbidding the administration from arresting or detaining Mr. Ahmed before his case can be heard. “I will not be bullied away from my life’s work of fighting to keep children safe from social media’s harm and stopping antisemitism online,” he said.
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PUBLICATIONS AND ITEMS OF INTEREST
USCIS end-of-year summary. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services released its end-of-year review.
Know your rights. A number of organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union (English and Spanish), the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc., the National Immigrant Justice Center, and the Asian Law Caucus, have published resources highlighting immigrants’ rights in the United States, including “know your rights” information and what documents they may want to carry when traveling inside the United States. ACLU of Northern California has also released Know Your Rights: U.S. Airports and Ports of Entry.
See also Information for Employers — “What to Do if Immigration Comes to Your Workplace” : NELP_EmployerGuide_Eng_2025_Final-.pdf. Note the important distinction between administrative and judicial warrants, and a public lobby versus private areas of a business.
IMMIGRATION AGENCY INFORMATION/PROCESSING TIMES
U.S. Customs and Border Protection:
Accessing I-94 Information: https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/#/home
Department of Labor:
PERM and Prevailing Wage Processing Times: https://flag.dol.gov/processingtimes
State Department:
Visa Appointment Wait Times: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas.html
Monthly Immigrant Visa Bulletin: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-bulletin.html
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services:
Processing Times: https://egov.uscis.gov/processing-times/
Case Status Online: https://egov.uscis.gov/
GOVERNMENT ENGAGEMENTS
E-Verify webinars: E-Verify has added a webinar with a focus on acceptable documents for Form I-9 verification, and has updated its calendar of webinars.
SAVE webinars: Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) has updated its calendar of webinars.
Immigration agency X (formerly Twitter) accounts:
- EOIR: @DOJ_EOIR
- ICE: @ICEgov
- Study in the States: @StudyinStates
- USCIS: @USCIS
Alliance of Business Immigration Lawyers: ABIL is available on X (formerly Twitter): @ABILImmigration
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This information was prepared in collaboration with ABIL, the Alliance of Business Immigration Lawyers, comprised of twenty U.S. immigration lawyers who head some of the top immigration practices in the country. Larrabee Albi Coker LLP is an active member of ABIL.
Legal Disclaimer: This information is provided for informational purposes only and does not substitute for legal advice based on the circumstances of a specific matter.