If your green card, work permit, citizenship, or asylum case stalled for no clear reason, a June 2026 court ruling may help.

If your case seemed to stop moving out of nowhere in late 2025 or early 2026, you were not imagining it. USCIS had quietly put many cases on hold based on the applicant’s country of birth. A federal court has now ruled those holds unlawful.

What happened

  • Starting in late 2025, USCIS placed an “adjudication hold” on many applications filed by people from the 39 countries covered by the travel ban — including Afghanistan.
  • The holds also paused asylum cases and reopened some benefits that had already been approved.
  • On June 5, 2026, a federal court in Rhode Island (Dorcas International Institute v. USCIS) ruled these policies unlawful and “vacated” them — meaning they are treated as if they were never in effect.
  • The court found that USCIS went beyond its legal authority and did not follow the rules agencies must follow.
  • USCIS has said it disagrees with the ruling but is following it for now.

What this means for you

  • If your case was frozen because of your country of birth, it should now return to normal processing.
  • This reaches many case types, including green cards (Form I-485), work permits (Form I-765), family petitions (Form I-130), citizenship (Form N-400), and asylum (Form I-589).
  • Citizenship oath ceremonies that had been put on hold should be rescheduled.
  • Processing may not restart overnight — USCIS needs time to update its systems, so movement can be gradual.

Important — this could still change

  • The government has appealed and has asked the court to pause its own ruling.
  • If that pause is granted, the holds could return.
  • Because the situation is changing quickly, this is a moment to act on a frozen case — not to wait.

What you should do

  • Check your case status online.
  • Make sure your filing is complete and your documents are ready, so your case can move the moment it is picked back up.
  • Talk to an attorney about whether a follow-up with USCIS makes sense for your case.

Need help with any of this? Call The Anwari Law Firm at (703) 348-8448 to speak with our team about your situation.

This article is general information from The Anwari Law Firm, PC and is not legal advice. Immigration rules are changing quickly; details are current as of July 2026. Please contact us about your specific case.

Posted in: Immigration

posted on: July 9, 2026

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