This article was prepared with the assistance of ABIL, the Alliance of Business Immigration Lawyers, of which Loan Huynh is an active member.
On March 30, 2026, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released an update on its “strict screening and vetting of foreign nationals seeking entry or immigration benefits” based on recent executive orders and guidance.
Among other things, USCIS outlined a series of actions it has implemented after issuance of related policy memoranda. USCIS said that over the past several months, it has reviewed and updated screening and vetting practices, including:
- Shortening validity periods for certain Employment Authorization Documents to require more frequent security checks;
- Updating photograph reuse policies to strengthen identity verification, including biometric identity verification when reusing fingerprints;
- Increasing social media and financial vetting and community interviews;
- Launching Operation PARRIS to conduct additional background checks, re-interviews, and merit reviews of refugee claims, led by the USCIS Vetting Center;
- Developing system connectivity for automatic notifications of biometric matches and new criminal information; and
- Requiring final arrest encounter reviews and Department of State Consular Consolidated Database checks before final adjudication.
USCIS also says it has “established an internal process for lifting holds on individual or group cases,” requiring multi-office review. USCIS reports that holds have already been lifted for limited categories, including certain employment authorization documents, certain petitions filed by U.S. citizens, certain rescheduled oath ceremonies, and asylum cases from “non high-risk” countries, among others, but USCIS did not define what qualifies as “certain” in each category or publish timelines for broader hold lifting.
