TPS updates for January 2026: Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Syria
There are three recent developments in Temporary Protected Status (“TPS”) designations for Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Syria:
Ethiopia: On December 15, 2025, USCIS announced that Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem had terminated TPS for Ethiopia. TPS for Ethiopian nationals will now end on February 13, 2026. See the Federal Register notice here.
South Sudan: On December 30, 2025, a federal district court judge in Boston temporarily blocked TPS termination for South Sudanese nationals. TPS for South Sudan was set to end on January 5, 2026. See the update on the USCIS website here.
Syria: On December 5, 2025, USCIS updated its TPS website for Syria confirming that EADs issued under TPS for Syrian nationals will remain valid, pursuant to the November 19, 2025 federal district court order blocking TPS termination for Syria. Individuals with EADs pursuant to TPS for Syria may continue to work based on their current EADs. See the USCIS website here and additional information on the lawsuit from the International Refugee Assistance Project here.
Please feel free to contact us with questions or concerns regarding the J-1 waiver process at info@iandoli.com.
Update on Neighborhood Investigations for Naturalization Applicants: USCIS visits homes of applicants
In August 2025, USCIS released a policy memorandum stating that it would resume “neighborhood investigations” of naturalization applicants, a policy that has been dormant since 1991. These neighborhood investigations include “the vicinity of [an applicant’s] place of residence and employ and include at least the 5-year period prior to the filing of the [] naturalization application.” Consistent with this memorandum, USCIS has begun visiting naturalization applicants at their homes without notice. Our office has heard reports of these visits focusing heavily on the legitimacy of an applicant’s marriage to a US citizen, and we have also heard of USCIS agents conducting home visits for permanent resident applicants.
We remind naturalization applicants of their right to have their attorney present for any questioning by USCIS. Applicants must assert that right to USCIS if they wish to pause the neighborhood investigation until their attorney is present. Applicants should request the agents’ names, what agency they are from, and contact information so that their attorney may contact the agents to arrange a meeting.
For more information on the memorandum, see our previous publication here.
State Department Updates Visa Issuance Suspension for Certain Nationals
On December 16, 2025, The State Department updated its guidance on the full and partial suspension of visa issuances for individuals from certain countries, in alignment with Presidential Proclamation 10998. The Proclamation and guidance added 20 countries to the travel ban, bringing the total to 39 countries.
Effective January 1, 2026, the United States will fully bar entry and visa issuances to nationals from the following countries:
Afghanistan
Burma (Myanmar)
Burkina Faso
Chad
Republic of the Congo
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Haiti
Iran
Laos
Libya
Mali
Niger
(Individuals traveling with documents from the) Palestinian Authority
Sierra Leone
Somalia
South Sudan
Sudan
Syria
Yemen
The US will also bar entry to immigrants (newly arriving Permanent Residents) and nonimmigrants with B-1, B-2, F, M, and J status from the following countries:
Angola
Antigua and Barbuda
Benin
Burundi
Cote d’Ivoire
Cuba
Dominica (island in the Lesser Antilles; distinct from the Dominican Republic in the Greater Antilles)
Gabon
The Gambia
Malawi
Mauritania
Nigeria
Senegal
Tanzania
Togo
Tonga
Venezuela
Zambia
Zimbabwe
Additionally, the US will bar entry to all immigrants (newly arriving Permanent Residents) from Turkmenistan.
See the State Department announcement here, and see a summary from NAFSA here.
Diversity Visa Lottery paused
On December 23, 2025, The State Department temporarily paused all visas issued pursuant to the Diversity Visa Lottery Program. This pause is in response to the shootings at Brown University and at a Brookline, MA home by a person who came to the United States many years ago through the Diversity Visa program. The State Department stated that it will be using the pause to review screening and vetting protocols for the program.
In a similar move, the Department of Homeland Security issued a Policy Memo directing officers to hold and review pending green card applications submitted pursuant to the Diversity Visa program.
See the announcement from the State Department here and the USCIS Policy Memo here.
Important Travel Warning for Indian Nationals Requiring New Visas
On December 3, 2025, the U.S. Department of State announced that it will expand its existing online presence review and social-media screening to include all H-1B specialty occupation visa applicants and their H-4 dependents, effective December 15, 2025. This expansion builds on similar screening already applied to F, M, and J category nonimmigrant visa applicants.
Under the new policy, all H-1B and H-4 visa applicants will be subject to review of their publicly available online presence, including social media profiles and other online information. H-1B and H-4 visa applicants are instructed to set all social media accounts to “public” to facilitate vetting.
Due to this new vetting policy, U.S. consular posts in India began issuing notices to H-1B and H-4 applicants that interviews scheduled on or after December 15, 2025, have been rescheduled—often into March/April 2026. Posts are reducing the number of daily interviews to accommodate the additional vetting associated with the online presence review, creating staffing and scheduling constraints.
Therefore, we are warning all Indian nationals who require new H-1B and H-4 visas against travel. Even if your appointment has not been cancelled as of today, it could be cancelled after your departure from the U.S. You may find yourself stuck abroad waiting to be rescheduled for 3-6+ months.
Some applicants are receiving notices from embassies informing them not to show up on their original interview date and instead to attend on the newly assigned appointment. We advise clients to log in to their visa appointment profiles to retrieve updated appointment letters and check message-center notifications for rescheduling updates regularly. Applicants who cannot attend the new date may reschedule online, provided their visa fee receipt is still valid (receipts older than one year are considered expired).
Iandoli Desai and Cronin, PC will continue to monitor the situation and provided updates.
NAFSA’s International Student Economic Value Tool
NAFSA: Association of International Educators has released an international student economic value tool on its website with its latest analysis from the 2024-2025 academic year. The site includes an interactive U.S. map with breakdowns of the financial contributions, job support, and international student enrollment for each state. Altogether, these contributions from international students resulted in a $42.9 billion contribution to the US economy and supported 355,000+ American jobs during the 2024-2025 academic year. NAFSA’s tool also published trends and reports for international student enrollment.
View NAFSA’s international student economic value tool here.
“Trump Gold Card” immigrant petitions are now available
On December 10, 2025, USCIS published Form I-140G Immigrant Petition for the Gold Card Program. Under the program, an individual can “gift” the US government $1 million to secure a Gold Card, which will make the individual eligible for permanent residency under either the first or second employment-based immigrant visa classifications. Corporations filing on behalf of a beneficiary are subject to a higher $2 million “gift.” Each derivative applicant (spouse or child(ren)) requires an additional $1 million “gift” to receive a Gold Card.
The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) published a Practice Pointer on the Trump Gold Card, which is available here. AILA identifies several risks and uncertainties associated with the program, including the legality of the donation requirement for derivative applicants, whether previous regulations under the first and second employment-based categories still apply, resource diversions from EB-5 and other mandated programs, and other potential infringements on statutory structures. Due to these risks, individuals should seek professional advice if they wish to explore obtaining a green card under the Trump Gold Card Program.
Visa Bulletin Update - Jan 2026
The Department of State publishes a monthly Visa Bulletin which operates as the “waiting list” for green cards (immigrant visas), with an individual’s Priority Date serving as their place in line. The Bulletin identifies all immigrant visa “preference” categories and indicates whether a backlog exists for that category. When a backlog exists, an individual in that category may not apply for a green card (or “adjust status”) until their Priority Date becomes “current.” A priority date is current when it is earlier than the date listed in the Visa Bulletin. The Bulletin lists family-based (“FB-”) preference categories and employment-based (“EB-") preference categories. These categories are further separated into two charts: the Final Action Dates chart and the Dates for Filing chart. The Final Action Dates chart indicates whether an individual can expect USCIS to make a decision on their application soon, whereas the Dates for Filing chart, if USCIS chooses to use it that month, indicates whether an individual may file their adjustment application and receive the benefits associated with having a green card application pending with USCIS.
In January 2026, USCIS will be using the Dates for Filing chart for both employment- and family-based preference categories.
The EB-2 and EB-3 preference categories remain backlogged for all countries. The State Department advanced Priority Dates as follows:
EB-1:
China: 2.5 months
India: 3.5 month
EB-2:
Mexico, Philippines, and All Other: 3 months
China: 1 month
India: no change
EB-3: no change
Other Workers:
Mexico, Philippines, and All Other: no change
China: 1 year
India: no change
See the January 2026 Visa Bulletin here.
If you have questions about planning, please schedule a consultation with one of the attorneys at Iandoli, Desai & Cronin (info@iandoli.com).
$100,000 H-1B “Payment” Update: Lawsuit Dismissal and No Movement on National Interest Exemption
In September 2025, President Trump released a Presidential Proclamation imposing a $100,000 “payment” for certain H-1B workers. See our previous update on the payment here.
On December 23, 2025, a Washington, D.C. federal district court judge dismissed the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s lawsuit against the Trump Administration for the $100,000 payment. The judge granted summary judgment in favor of the Trump Administration, stating that the Proclamation’s lawfulness “rests on a straightforward reading of congressional statutes giving the President broad authority to regulate entry into the United States for immigrants and nonimmigrants alike.” See the Chamber of Commerce’s dedicated lawsuit page with a link to decision and the Chamber’s appeal of the decision here.
Additionally, as of December 31, 2025, our office has not been informed of USCIS issuing any decision on an employer’s request for a national interest exception to the payment. USCIS has only sent employers an email confirming receipt of their request.
We will continue to provide updates on the $100,000 payment as we receive them.
DHS publishes Final Rule Changing H-1B Lottery Selection Process
On December 29, 2025, the Department of Homeland Security published a Final Rule amending the H-1B cap lottery into a weighted selection process. Similar to the Proposed Rule from September 2025, the Final Rule favors registrations for “higher skilled and higher paid” nonimmigrants by allocating more registrations to higher-paid workers. DHS would use the four wage levels from the Department of Labor Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey to allocate more lottery entries to registrants with higher wages. Registrants with Level I wages would receive one entry, Level II wages would receive two entries, Level III wages would receive three entries, and Level IV wages would receive four entries.
The proposed changes will increase the amount of time needed to prepare and submit each H-1B lottery entry, as an analysis of the employer’s offered position and selection of the proper OEWS occupational code and wage level will be required. These changes will likely also impact how companies can sponsor recent college graduates.
See the Final Rule in the Federal Register here , and USCIS’s announcement and comments on the new process here.