U.S. Appeals Court Partially Reinstates USCIS Re-Review Policy for Travel Ban Nationals While Litigation Continues

BOSTON, August 17, 2026 — A federal appeals court has granted the government permission to resume reviewing certain previously approved immigration benefits for nationals from countries subject to U.S. travel restrictions, while blocking three other challenged policies from taking effect .

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit issued a partial stay on August 14 in the case Dorcas International Institute of Rhode Island v. USCIS, allowing U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to enforce its "Comprehensive Re-Review Policy" during the appeal process .

The three-judge panel denied the government's request to restore the remaining policies, which remain vacated .

First Circuit partially reinstates USCIS re-review policy for travel ban nationals on August 14, 2026

What Policies Are Affected?

The decision stems from a June 2026 federal district court ruling that struck down four USCIS policies affecting nationals from 39 travel ban countries and holders of Palestinian Authority travel documents .

Policy	Status After August 14 Ruling
Comprehensive Re-Review Policy	Reinstated (partial stay granted)
Benefits Hold Policy	Remains vacated
Country-Specific Factors Policy	Remains vacated
Global Asylum Hold	Remains vacated

Countries Affected by the Policies

The challenged USCIS measures applied to nationals or persons born in the following countries, as well as holders of Palestinian Authority travel documents :

Afghanistan, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burma (Myanmar), Burundi, Chad, Republic of Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Cuba, Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Gabon, The Gambia, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Togo, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Venezuela, Yemen, Zambia, and Zimbabwe .

What the Re-Review Policy Means for Affected Nationals

The First Circuit's decision permits USCIS to resume re-reviewing approved benefit requests for individuals from travel ban countries who entered the United States on or after January 20, 2021 — or, in some cases, whose benefits were approved on or after that date .

Affected individuals who receive correspondence from USCIS indicating that an approved benefit is being re-reviewed should consult with a qualified immigration attorney or accredited legal representative .

What Remains Blocked

The appeals court upheld the district court's ruling for three other policies :

Policy	What It Would Have Done
Benefits Hold	Paused adjudications of immigration benefit applications for nationals from travel ban countries
Country-Specific Factors	Treated being from a travel ban country as a negative factor in discretionary adjudications
Asylum Hold	Suspended asylum application adjudications

Background and Legal Timeline

Date	Event
Late 2025	USCIS first implemented the four challenged policies
January 2026	Policies expanded after travel ban broadened
March 5, 2026	Lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for Rhode Island
June 5, 2026	District Court vacated all four policies as unlawful under the Administrative Procedure Act
June 12, 2026	Government filed appeal with First Circuit
August 14, 2026	First Circuit granted partial stay for Re-Review Policy

The district court found that USCIS lacked statutory authority for the blanket policies, violated the Administrative Procedure Act by failing to use notice-and-comment rulemaking, and that the stated "national security" rationale was pretextual . The judge also highlighted statements by administration officials referring to immigrants from affected countries as coming from "hellholes" and "shithole countries," which he characterized as evidence of "bad faith and impermissible animus" .

What Happens Next

The First Circuit's decision is an interim ruling while the full appeal proceeds . The court did not rule on the ultimate legality of the Re-Review Policy — only that the government met the standard for a stay . If the government ultimately wins the appeal, the remaining vacated policies could also be reinstated .

USCIS has announced it will comply with the district court's order, but the practical impact for affected applicants has been mixed . Immigration lawyers report that while USCIS has publicly acknowledged the policies are vacated, many delayed cases have not yet seen visible movement . The filing of an appeal does not automatically restore the vacated policies

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