Welcome to the Garfinkel Immigration news roundup, where every month we will summarize and provide links to the latest stories impacting U.S. immigration.
Below is the December 2025 edition of the Garfinkel Immigration news roundup:
Travel ban expanded
President Donald Trump announced earlier this month the expansion of the travel ban first issued earlier this year.
The expansion will take effect at 12:01 a.m. ET on Jan. 1, 2026, and “fully restricts and limits” the admittance of nationals from the following additional countries who are outside the United States and do not have a valid visa or entry document as of that time: Burkina Faso, Laos, Mali, Niger, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Syria, Turkmenistan, and noncitizens traveling with Palestinian Authority Documents.
Further, nationals from the following additional countries, who are outside the United States without a valid visa, will be barred from entering the United States with immigrant or B-1, B2, B-1/B-2, F, M, or J nonimmigrant visas as of Jan. 1, 2026: Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Dominica, Gabon, The Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Tonga, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Additionally, the Trump administration directed U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in early December to immediately pause processing of all “USCIS Benefit Applications” for nationals of the countries listed in its travel ban. The attorneys at Garfinkel Immigration anticipate that the adjudications “pause” will apply to the new countries in the expanded list.
Some embassies, consulates rescheduling H-1B visa interviews because of new enhanced ‘online presence review:’ Expect delays
The attorneys at Garfinkel Immigration Law Firm have become aware that U.S. embassies and consulates in India are delaying H-1B visa appointments scheduled on or after Dec. 15 until at least early spring.
The Department of State (DOS) cited the enhanced “online presence review” announced late last week, as well as “operational constraints,” for rescheduling these appointments, as they are reducing “the number of applicants each day.”
Foreign nationals traveling without valid visa stamps should expect prolonged delays scheduling visa appointments at their applicable U.S. embassy or consulate. It is anticipated that embassies and consulates in other countries around the world could experience similar cancellations and re-bookings. The impacts also could expand to appointments for other visa classifications and may not exclusively affect H-1B visa applicants.
These delays follow an announcement from the DOS that effective Dec. 15, 2025, all H-1B visa applicants, as well as their H-4 dependents, will be subject to an “online presence review” as part of the application process. This expands a process implemented earlier this year that previously applied to student and exchange visitor visa categories (F, M, J visas).
Garfinkel Immigration Partner Colleen F. Molner quoted in Washington Post story on foreign doctors, new $100K H-1B visa fee
Garfinkel Immigration Law Firm Partner Colleen F. Molner was recently interviewed and quoted by The Washington Post in an article examining the new $100,000 H-1B visa fee and its effect on rural hospitals and underserved communities.
In the piece titled “Rural America relies on foreign doctors. Trump’s visa fee shuts them out,” Molner shared insights on the burden that the fee places on rural healthcare providers, many of whom rely on international medical graduates to fill physician shortages.
“It’s definitely having a chilling effect,” Molner told The Washington Post about the $100,000 fee.
The piece also highlights specific examples of foreign doctors who have been impacted by the new fee, some of whom have been unable to start work in the United States and are represented by Molner.
Learn more and read the full story in The Washington Post here.
Navigating the immigration landscape in 2026: What K-12 and higher education institutions need know
As we close out the year and head into 2026, the intersection of immigration policy and the education sector continue to evolve in complex ways. From increased federal scrutiny to policy changes that may impact how schools support international students and staff, institutions must remain agile and informed.
We sat down with William R. Hummel, head of Garfinkel Immigration Law Firm’s Education Specialty Practice Group, to discuss the current challenges and practical steps schools, colleges, and universities should consider.
The most inspiring immigration stories of 2025
Forbes released in late December its annual list of the most inspiring immigration stories.
In the piece, Senior Contributor Stuart Anderson focuses on Nobel Prize Winners Omar Yaghi and Joel Mokyr; World Series Champions Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shohei Ohtani; Zhen Xu, who discovered a new cancer treatment; and more.
Read the full list of Forbes’ most inspiring immigration stories of 2025 here.
Many immigrants’ final legal step — citizenship — has become harder under the Trump administration
This story from NBC News details the effects of the administration’s pause of all “USCIS Benefit Applications” for nationals of the countries listed in its travel ban.
Specifically, the story focuses on the impacts to green card holders waiting to take the final step to secure U.S. citizenship, many of whom “are seeing their naturalization ceremonies abruptly canceled this month,” according to NBC News.
“Lawful permanent residents, or green card holders, are already among the most thoroughly vetted individuals in the nation’s immigration system,” the NBC News story reads. “When they decide to naturalize, they undergo an even more comprehensive government review that includes background checks, interviews with immigration officers and a citizenship test.”
The story continues: “The citizenship ceremony is the last step in a long process that starts with having a green card for several years, submitting the application, paying hundreds of dollars in fees, completing an interview with an immigration officer, passing a background check as well as an English and civics test, all before finally taking the oath.”