- Canada’s Express Entry backlog reached 32 percent, its highest level since late 2022.
- The U.S. implemented a pause on immigrant visas for nationals from 75 countries.
- A new ‘hold and review’ mandate affects applicants from 39 high-risk countries.
(CANADA) — Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada released new figures on Tuesday showing the 🇨🇦 Express Entry backlog climbed to its highest level in three years, as U.S. agencies simultaneously rolled out January 2026 measures aimed at reshaping how 🇺🇸 backlogs build and clear across visa and benefit systems.
IRCC published the data on January 20, 2026, but the snapshot reflects application inventory status as of November 30, 2025. That timing difference matters for applicants who track month-to-month changes and may otherwise assume the figures represent real-time movement.
IRCC inventory and backlog data
The Express Entry backlog rose from 27% to 32%, which IRCC data described as the highest level since October 2022. IRCC reported 2,130,700 total applications across all categories, with 1,005,800 considered part of the backlog, defined as cases exceeding service standards.
In the same release, IRCC reported that permanent residence applications saw an inventory increase of 12,800 in a single month. The figures provide a systemwide picture of volume and delay, but they do not, on their own, explain how long any one applicant will wait.
Express Entry is exclusive to Canada’s immigration system, and its metrics should not be confused with U.S. reporting on pending immigration and benefit cases. Applicants often track “backlog” headlines across countries, but the underlying definitions, service standards, and reporting practices differ.
How IRCC defines inventory and backlog
In IRCC reporting, “total inventory” captures all applications under management, while the “backlog” portion counts cases that exceed service standards. A rising backlog percentage can indicate more files falling outside targets at the same time that overall inventory grows.
For candidates and families trying to plan around work, travel, or life decisions, that can translate into longer waits, shifting processing priorities, and less certainty about when a file will move. IRCC’s publication date versus its as-of date can also make month-to-month changes appear delayed, because the public sees a backward-looking snapshot.
U.S. actions in January 2026
While Canada’s backlog discussion centered on IRCC’s inventory, U.S. agencies tied their January announcements to operational controls that can change intake and adjudication pace, and by extension, how backlogs expand or contract across different programs.
Department of State pause on immigrant visas
On January 14, 2026, the Department of State and DHS announced a pause affecting immigrant visas for nationals of 75 countries. The official statement said: “Effective January 21, 2026, [the government] will pause all immigrant visa issuances for nationals of a large group of countries identified as being at elevated risk of using public benefits.”
The policy does not revoke existing visas, but it stops new immigrant visa issuances to affected nationals while a “public charge” and financial self-sufficiency review is in place. In practice, a pause of this type typically changes how quickly cases can move from interview scheduling to final issuance, and it can reduce throughput even when underlying petitions or applications remain pending elsewhere in the system.
DHS interim final rule for religious workers
DHS also issued an interim final rule aimed at the religious worker category, described as severely backlogged. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said via a spokesperson: “Under the leadership of Secretary Noem, DHS is committed to protecting and preserving freedom and expression of religion. We are taking the necessary steps to ensure religious organizations can continue delivering the services that Americans depend on. Pastors, priests, nuns, and rabbis are essential to the social and moral fabric of this country.”
The rule eliminates the one-year foreign residency requirement for R-1 visa holders, allowing them to remain in their ministries while waiting for their green cards. The change targets a point of friction that can affect how long applicants remain eligible and how long they must spend outside the United States while a years-long EB-4 backlog persists.
USCIS “hold and review” memorandum
A third U.S. action moved in the opposite direction for certain applicants by adding a new layer of review. A USCIS policy memorandum dated January 1, 2026 — PM-602-0194 — directed personnel to place a “hold and review” on all pending benefit applications for aliens from an expanded list of 39 “high-risk countries”.
In its statement, USCIS said: “USCIS remains dedicated to ensuring aliens from high-risk countries of concern. do not pose risks to national security or public safety. To faithfully uphold United States immigration law, the flow of aliens from countries with high overstay rates, significant fraud, or both must stop.” Holds and review directives can slow adjudications for affected applicants by inserting additional screening steps and delaying final decisions even when filings are otherwise complete.
USCIS scale, operations, and fees
U.S. officials have framed these actions against the scale of pending work across the agency. As of early 2026, USCIS continued to manage a record backlog of over 11 million pending cases, based on data as of July 2025 and January 2026 reports.
In USCIS terms, “pending cases” is a broad count that can span many different forms and benefit types, each with different processing steps, staffing models, and review demands. Large totals do not translate evenly across form types, and processing can vary widely by service center, field office, and case complexity.
USCIS pointed to some operational improvement in a January 7, 2026 update, saying hiring efforts in 2025 — adding several thousand officers — reduced wait times for Employment Authorization Documents (EADs). The agency said many EADs now process within 3 to 5 months.
Even with those gains, fee policy also remains part of how USCIS says it funds capacity and manages throughput. Effective March 1, 2026, USCIS will implement a 6% inflation-based increase to premium processing fees, tying a pricing lever to efforts aimed at further backlog reduction.
Practical effects on applicants and families
For skilled workers, delays earlier in the pipeline can cascade into later stages of the employment-based green card process. PERM labor certifications add over 16 months to green card timelines, extending the time before an applicant can even move to subsequent steps that depend on certified labor market testing.
Families face their own set of variables, including category, petitioner status, and where a case is processed. Form I-130 (Petition for Alien Relative) for green card holder sponsors remains at a peak wait of 17 to 35 months, underscoring how “backlog” pressure can look very different depending on the route a family uses.
The January 21 pause on 75 countries adds another uncertainty factor for affected nationals, because immigrant visa issuance itself can become a bottleneck even if an underlying petition advances. The same month also brought “hold and review” processing for an expanded list of 39 “high-risk countries”, which can increase requests for evidence, affect interview scheduling, and make outcomes harder to predict for applicants who fall under heightened screening.
As these policy shifts roll out, agencies can implement them differently across programs, and official notices and FAQs can shape how rules apply to specific categories and cases. Applicants often track milestones by date, but the practical effect depends on where a file sits in the pipeline when a pause, rule change, or hold takes effect.
Where to verify current guidance
For readers trying to verify current rules and processing updates directly, USCIS posts announcements and operational updates in its USCIS Newsroom. DHS publishes department-wide directives and announcements in its DHS Press Releases, while USCIS policy implementation details often appear in the USCIS Policy Manual/Memos.
Visa issuance and category movement also depend on State Department guidance, including the Visa Bulletin hosted at travel.state.gov. In a month when Canada’s IRCC backlog figures and U.S. immigration actions moved in parallel, those official portals provide the clearest way for applicants to confirm what applies to their own case and when.
