USCIS Lifts Adjudication Hold for Foreign Physicians

What Happened

In January 2026, USCIS implemented a blanket adjudication hold on immigration benefit requests filed by nationals of approximately 39 countries — a list later expanded to 75 for certain categories — under a Trump administration proclamation citing national security review concerns. The hold froze visa extensions, I-485 adjustment-of-status applications, employment authorization documents (EADs), and I-140 immigrant petitions across the board, leaving foreign physicians unable to legally work or continue treating patients.

USCIS has now updated its website — with no formal press release and no announcement in the Federal Register — to state that physician applicants are no longer subject to the hold. The update appears to have gone live between approximately May 9 and May 13, 2026. DHS confirmed the change to the New York Times, stating: 'applications associated with medical physicians will continue to be processed.'

The quiet nature of the update is consistent with how the administration has handled other adjustments to the hold. Practitioners monitoring USCIS's policy pages noticed the change before any official communication was issued. Medical organizations representing the roughly 23 percent of U.S. licensed physicians who are foreign-trained had lobbied DHS directly, citing critical patient care shortages in medically underserved areas as a direct consequence of frozen applications.

Who's Affected

The exemption applies to foreign national physicians who have benefit requests pending at USCIS and whose cases were paused because they are nationals of a country on the restricted list. This group includes physicians in H-1B status seeking extensions, those with pending I-485 adjustment applications, physicians waiting on EAD renewals, and those with pending I-140 immigrant petitions.

The exemption is narrow. It does not reach every immigration applicant with a connection to medicine — it is limited to physicians. Researchers, engineers, entrepreneurs, and all other applicants from restricted countries remain fully frozen under the hold. And critically, the exemption applies only to cases pending before USCIS; it does not affect consular processing at U.S. embassies and consulates abroad.

Physicians should also be aware that a related April 30, 2026 ruling by a Massachusetts federal court ordered USCIS to resume processing for approximately 200 named plaintiffs from restricted countries. That order is broader than physicians — it applies to any of the named plaintiffs regardless of occupation — but it is narrower in a different dimension: it applies only to those specific individuals who are party to that lawsuit, not to the general public.

• H-1B physicians with pending extension petitions filed while the hold was active
• Physicians with pending I-485 adjustment-of-status applications
• Physicians awaiting EAD renewals who lost work authorization during the freeze
• Physicians with pending I-140 immigrant petitions, including EB-2 NIW physician waiver petitions
• Nationals of countries on the restricted list (approximately 39 countries, expanded to 75 for certain categories)

What Attorneys Should Know

The exemption is physician-specific and USCIS-pending-only. Before advising a client to rely on this update, confirm two things: (1) the client is a licensed physician (not a researcher, student, or other health professional), and (2) the relevant benefit request is pending at a USCIS service center or lockbox — not at a U.S. consulate or embassy abroad. Clients whose cases are in consular processing do not benefit from this exemption and remain subject to the hold.

The Massachusetts federal court ruling from April 30, 2026 is a parallel but distinct development. That ruling compelled USCIS to resume processing for roughly 200 named plaintiffs, regardless of their occupation, but it creates no broader precedent that applicants outside the lawsuit can invoke. Attorneys with clients who are not physicians and not named plaintiffs in that case should not advise those clients that their cases are moving. Researchers, entrepreneurs, and non-physician applicants from restricted countries remain fully frozen.

The interaction with EB-2 NIW physician waivers (INA § 203(b)(2)(B)(ii)) and Conrad 30 J-1 waiver cases deserves particular attention. EB-2 NIW physician waivers require a commitment to work in a Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) or Medically Underserved Area (MUA) for at least five years. These petitions are filed with USCIS and, as I-140s pending at USCIS, appear to fall squarely within the exemption. Conrad 30 cases, by contrast, involve a different adjudicatory pathway that includes both USCIS and the State Department, and attorneys should monitor carefully whether the consular-processing exclusion affects any Conrad 30 clients who need a visa stamp or have cases at a consulate.

Schedule A, Group II physicians — those with national interest petitions supported by evidence of exceptional ability in the sciences — face a similar analysis. Schedule A petitions are filed directly with USCIS as part of the I-485 package; to the extent these are pending USCIS cases, the exemption should apply. Attorneys should document the current USCIS policy language carefully given that the update was made without a Federal Register notice and could be reversed or modified without formal rulemaking.

Litigation risk remains elevated. At least one physician — an Iranian radiologist whose case was decided during the hold — received a denial she has stated she believes was retaliatory for filing a federal lawsuit. Attorneys should advise clients to document the full procedural history of their cases, preserve all communications with USCIS, and evaluate whether a denial issued during the hold period warrants a motion to reopen or reconsider in light of the exemption. The absence of a formal press release or policy memo means practitioners are operating from USCIS website language alone, which carries inherent uncertainty.

What Applicants Should Do

If you are a foreign national physician with a benefit request pending at USCIS, your case should now be moving again. Enhanced vetting — including background checks, biometrics collection, and social media screening — will still be applied to your application, but USCIS will now adjudicate and issue a decision. You do not need to file anything new to take advantage of the exemption; it applies automatically to pending cases.

If your EAD expired during the hold and you have been unable to work, consult with an immigration attorney about your current employment authorization status. Depending on your visa category and the timing of your filing, you may have an argument for automatic EAD extension under existing regulations, or your attorney may advise filing a new EAD application as quickly as possible.

If you received a denial during the hold period, do not assume it is final. An experienced immigration attorney can evaluate whether a motion to reopen or reconsider is appropriate, particularly given that the denial may have been issued while the policy exempting physicians was being developed.

• Confirm your case is pending at USCIS (not at a consulate) — the exemption does not apply to consular processing
• Contact your immigration attorney to confirm your case is now in active adjudication
• If your EAD lapsed, ask your attorney about your current work authorization status and whether a new EAD filing is needed
• If you received a denial during the hold, ask your attorney about a motion to reopen or reconsider
• Keep copies of all USCIS correspondence and note the dates — documentation is critical if your case requires litigation