United States: Appeals Court Allows USCIS to Re-Review Certain Approved Immigration Benefits While Litigation Continues

The full range of USCIS adjudication policies at issue were first implemented late last year and were expanded in January 2026, after the travel ban was expanded to its current scope. The specific policies implemented by USCIS were:

• Re-review of approved immigration benefits for foreign nationals from travel ban jurisdictions if the benefit was either approved on or after January 20, 2021, or where the foreign national had entered the United States on or after January 20, 2021;
• The suspension of adjudications of immigration benefits applications filed on behalf of foreign nationals from travel ban countries and areas;
• Treating foreign nationals being from a travel ban country or area as a negative factor in the adjudication of discretionary benefit applications; and
• Suspension of asylum application adjudications.

The First Circuit Court of Appeals decision allows USCIS to resume only the first-listed policy. The other three policies remain vacated.

The first three policies impacted almost all types of USCIS benefits requests and applied to foreign nationals with Palestinian Authority travel documents or who were born in or are nationals of the following 39 countries currently subject to a full or partial travel ban:

Afghanistan, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burma (Myanmar), Burundi, Chad, Republic of Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Gabon, The Gambia, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Togo, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Venezuela, Yemen, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

A coalition of nonprofit organizations and labor unions challenged the above USCIS policies in federal district court. On June 5, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island issued an order declaring the policies unlawful under the Administrative Procedure Act and setting them aside on that basis. The district court case is Dorcas Intl. Institute of Rhode Island v. USCIS, Case No. 1:26-cv-00132 (D.R.I., filed March 5, 2026). 

On June 12, the government filed an appeal of the district court decision with the First Circuit Court of Appeals, seeking a stay of the lower court ruling pending appeal. On August 14, the appeals court upheld the district court order as to all of the USCIS policies, except the policy permitting USCIS re-review of approved immigration benefits for a subset of foreign nationals from travel ban countries, as noted above. As a result of the August 14 order, USCIS will be permitted to resume that one policy while the appeal process continues. The agency continues to be barred from resuming the other vacated policies – including the suspension of adjudications for foreign nationals from travel ban countries and the treating of being from a travel ban country as a negative factor in discretionary adjudications.

As a result of the First Circuit’s partial stay, foreign nationals from travel ban countries who entered the United States on or after January 20, 2021 (and possibly those who entered before that date but who have had an immigration benefit approved on or after that date) may be subject to a re-review of their benefit approval. Foreign nationals who receive correspondence from USCIS that appears to relate to a re-review should consult with immigration counsel.

Fragomen will continue to monitor litigation surrounding these policies and provide updates as warranted.