USCIS updates Policy Manual to exclude transgender women from entering the US to compete in women’s sports

On August 4, 2025, USCIS announced that it will be updating its Policy Manual to align with Executive Order 14201, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” which directed the Department of Homeland Security to prevent transgender women (who USCIS refers to as male or men) from entering the United States to compete in women’s sports. Effective immediately, the guidance updated visa eligibility guidance for the following visa categories: O-1 nonimmigrants of extraordinary ability, EB-1 immigrants of extraordinary ability, EB-2 immigrants of exceptional ability, and national interest waiver applicants. 

Under the new guidance: 

• USCIS will consider the fact that a transgender woman was competing in women’s sports as a negative factor in determining whether the woman was at the top of her field; 

• USCIS will consider a transgender woman with acclaim in men’s sports and who seeks to compete in women’s sports to not be seeking to continue work in her area of extraordinary ability; 

• Transgender female athletes seeking to enter the US to compete in women’s sports will not substantially benefit the United States; and 

• It will not be in the national interest of the United States to waive the labor certification requirement for transgender women whose proposed endeavor is to compete in women’s sports. 

See the USCIS announcement here.