Individuals from additional countries are facing major restrictions
December 19, 2025
Travel restrictions for individuals from specific countries will start on January 1, 2026. News reports also say that USCIS has stopped approving most immigration benefits for individuals from these countries. The countries are Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Dominica, Gabon, The Gambia, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Palestine, Senegal, South Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Tonga, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. This news is in addition to announcements affecting individuals from 19 other countries earlier this month.
TPS for Burma (Myanmar), Ethiopia, Haiti, and South Sudan are ending
December 12, 2025
Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Ethiopia is ending on February 13, 2026. TPS for Haiti is ending on February 3, 2026. TPS for Burma (Myanmar) is ending on January 26, 2026. TPS for South Sudan is ending on January 5, 2026. See updates for each country with TPS.
Supreme Court agrees to hear birthright citizenship case
December 5, 2025
The Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments about whether the birthright citizenship Executive Order is legal, as part of a lawsuit called Barbara v. Trump. The Supreme Court will probably decide this issue by early July 2026. Today, all babies born in the U.S. are U.S. citizens.
Work permits issued after December 4, 2025 will be valid for 18 months
December 4, 2025
Work permits issued after December 4, 2025 to asylum seekers will be valid for 18 months, instead of 5 years. However, if you received a 5-year work permit on or before December 4, 2025, it is still valid for 5 years. This change also applies to some other immigrants.
Individuals from 19 countries are facing major restrictions
December 3, 2025
At this time, USCIS is not approving new immigration benefits for individuals from 19 countries, including asylum, green cards, and some work permits. The government also made other negative announcements affecting individuals from these countries. The 19 countries are Afghanistan, Burma (Myanmar), Burundi, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, Turkmenistan, Venezuela, and Yemen.
USCIS is pausing asylum decisions
December 3, 2025
USCIS is pausing all asylum decisions for individuals from any country, but they say they will still accept new asylum applications and conduct interviews.
Some immigration court cases are ending without a full hearing
December 3, 2025
At this time, we do not believe immigration court cases should be impacted by the USCIS asylum pause. But the government is still ending many immigration court cases without a full hearing.
A court has blocked the government from ending TPS for Syria
November 20, 2025
Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Syria, previously set to end on November 21, 2025, remains valid for now. See updates for each country with TPS.
New commercial driver’s license rule is blocked for now
November 10, 2025
Asylum seekers can apply for commercial drivers licenses again. The U.S. government tried to block asylum seekers and other immigrants from receiving new commercial drivers licenses, but a court prevented this change for now.
Judge temporarily pauses the annual asylum fee
October 30, 2025
This pause is temporary, and if your asylum application has been pending for more than 1 year, you may be required to pay the fee soon.
New work permit extension rule
October 30, 2025
The government has stopped issuing new automatic work permit extensions. But if you already received a 540-day extension on or before October 29, your extension is still valid!
How are laws changing for asylum seekers?
October 30, 2025
We update this page with new information for asylum seekers every week.
New way to make USCIS payments by check
October 28, 2025
USCIS made it harder to submit payments by check or money order. See updated information about how to make payments for new applications.
Immigration court adds annual asylum fee payment option
October 23, 2025
The immigration courts created a way to pay the annual asylum fee online for the first time. USCIS has a website where you can check if you can pay the annual asylum fee.
The Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project (ASAP) aims to provide factual information about current immigration laws. This information is not legal advice.
All legal content is written and legally reviewed by ASAP’s team of expert immigration lawyers. ASAP’s expert lawyers have decades of experience in immigration law and litigation. Collectively, they have won hundreds of cases. Our lawyers are admitted to the Bar in several U.S. states, hold law degrees from universities including Harvard, Yale, and UCLA, and have won multiple awards for their legal work.