Uscis and State Department Warn as Presidential Proclamation 10998 Halts Visa Processing

(UNITED STATES) — The U.S. government expanded entry restrictions for foreign nationals and paused some immigrant visa issuances as USCIS imposed internal adjudication holds, a set of moves that officials tied to security screening and concerns about “public charge” reliance.

President Trump issued Presidential Proclamation 10998 on Dec. 16, 2025, and the Department of State followed with a separate “Public Benefit Review” on Jan. 21, 2026, while USCIS issued a policy memorandum directing officers to halt work on certain cases.

The combined actions disrupted consular processing abroad and created new uncertainty for some applicants seeking immigration benefits inside the United States, as cases can continue through steps like filing and interviews but stall at issuance or final adjudication.

Presidential Proclamation 10998, titled “Restricting and Limiting the Entry of Foreign Nationals to Protect the Security of the United States,” took effect Jan. 1, 2026. It expanded earlier restrictions to 39 countries, citing “woeful inadequacies in screening, vetting, and provision of information.”

“The United States must exercise extreme vigilance during the visa-issuance and immigration processes to identify. foreign nationals who intend to harm Americans or our national interests. Entry will not be granted to aliens who advocate for, aid, or support designated foreign terrorists,” Presidential Proclamation 10998 said.

Alongside the proclamation, the Department of State announced a pause on immigrant visa issuances for 75 countries to conduct a “full review of all screening and vetting policies to ensure that immigrants from high-risk countries do not unlawfully utilize welfare,” under what it called a “Public Benefit Review.”

USCIS also issued Policy Memorandum PM-602-0194 on Jan. 1, 2026. The directive instructed the agency to “place a hold on all pending benefit applications” for nationals of countries listed in PP 10998 and ordered a “comprehensive re-review” of cases approved since January 20, 2021.

Under the security-based restrictions that took effect Jan. 1, 2026, the government split affected countries into “full suspension” and “partial/immigrant-only” categories, a difference that shapes what applicants can seek and where they face blocks.

A “full suspension” applied to 19 countries: Afghanistan, Burma, Burkina Faso, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Mali, Niger, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Yemen, and the Palestinian Authority.

A “partial/immigrant-only suspension” applied to 20 countries: Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Burundi, Cote D’Ivoire, Cuba, Dominica, Gabon, The Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Togo, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Venezuela, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Separate from those security-based lists, the Department of State’s public benefit/welfare review pause targeted immigrant visas for 75 countries deemed “high-risk” for public benefit reliance, using a wider group that included countries already covered under the security protocols.

The Department of State’s pause list included countries such as Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, Ghana, Pakistan, Russia, Thailand, and Uzbekistan, underscoring that the welfare-related track swept beyond the 39-country framework in Presidential Proclamation 10998.

Applicants experienced the practical effects differently depending on whether they pursued immigrant visas through consular processing abroad or filed for adjustment of status inside the United States through USCIS.

For many people outside the U.S., the immediate effect resembled a “submit but no issue” system: they could still file paperwork and attend interviews, but the final step stopped.

The Department of State confirmed that “immigrant visas will not be issued to these nationals during this pause.”

Inside the United States, individuals already present could still file Form I-485 for adjustment of status, but the USCIS policy memorandum created the likelihood of an “adjudication hold” for covered nationals, slowing down final decisions even when filings moved forward.

The USCIS directive to hold pending benefit applications also raised the prospect of additional screening steps, because a “comprehensive re-review” of certain approvals since January 20, 2021 could pull older decisions back into internal checks.

That re-review order, as described in the USCIS memorandum, set up an operational scenario in which approved cases could face fresh scrutiny. Applicants could see longer waits and additional requests tied to the agency’s internal review process.

The government’s moves landed on top of an immigration system already burdened by a large pending workload, amplifying the effects of pauses and holds for families and employers trying to plan around timelines.

As of July 2025, USCIS reported a record 11 million pending cases, a figure that has become a central reference point for applicants tracking delays and for employers weighing recruitment and start dates.

Processing times for family petitions and adjustment applications varied widely, adding another layer of uncertainty even before the new restrictions took effect.

For I-130 relative petitions, wait times ranged from 17 to 170.5 months depending on the category.

Employment-based I-485 adjustment cases had processing times between 11 and 31.5 months, a span that can affect job mobility, travel planning, and the scheduling of dependent family applications.

When consular posts pause issuance, applicants can become “documentarily complete” yet remain unable to receive visas, leaving cases in limbo even after interviews or final checks.

USCIS adjudication holds can produce a similar effect inside the United States, where applications remain pending without a final decision as officers wait for additional guidance or run new vetting steps required by policy.

The State Department’s monthly Visa Bulletin offered another signal of strain as the pause and holds unfolded, because it warned about the pace of number usage even for countries not under suspension.

In the March 2026 Visa Bulletin, some employment-based categories such as EB-2 and EB-3 saw modest “forward movement” for countries not under suspension, but the Department of State warned that “future advancement will depend on how quickly available numbers are used.”

The bulletin also cautioned that “retrogression may be necessary later in the fiscal year,” language that can reshape planning for applicants tracking priority dates and employer timelines.

Meanwhile, DHS published a final rule on Jan. 12, 2026, increasing premium processing fees to account for inflation, adding costs for those who pay for faster processing where it is available.

Premium processing does not apply to every immigration benefit, and it does not change the Department of State’s ability to issue immigrant visas during a pause, but it remains a tool used by some employers and applicants seeking quicker action on eligible USCIS filings.

In practice, the new restrictions placed the Department of State and USCIS at different chokepoints in the system, with consular officers controlling immigrant visa issuance abroad while USCIS controls adjudication of many benefits inside the country.

Consular processing applicants generally depend on the Department of State for interviews and final visa printing, so a pause can halt travel and reunification even after long waits and completed paperwork.

Applicants seeking adjustment of status inside the U.S. depend on USCIS officers for interviews, requests for evidence, and final approvals, meaning internal adjudication holds can slow or stop decisions even if filing continues.

The scope of affected countries also means mixed-status families and multinational employers could see uneven outcomes, where one relative’s nationality triggers a hold while another relative’s case proceeds under standard timelines.

Because the lists differ between the security-based suspensions and the public benefit pause, applicants can face different barriers depending on which policy governs their case, and whether they are seeking an immigrant visa or another type of benefit.

For public guidance, USCIS has directed readers to its USCIS Policy Newsroom, where the agency posts updates and announcements, while the Department of State publishes monthly cutoffs and notes in its Department of State Visa Bulletins.

Presidential actions like PP 10998 appear through the White House’s Presidential Proclamations, and USCIS policy directives such as PM-602-0194 appear in its policy memoranda.

Applicants and attorneys tracking the pause and the adjudication holds have focused on whether the Department of State issues further consular notices, whether USCIS updates policy guidance on holds and re-reviews, and whether country lists change.

Updates typically show up through USCIS policy postings and news releases, Department of State consular announcements, and the Visa Bulletin, which also signals broader pressure in the system through warnings about number usage.

Implementation can vary over time and across processing locations, leaving applicants watching for signals that issuance resumes, screening procedures change, or adjudication holds lift for specific nationalities covered by Presidential Proclamation 10998.