Rhode Island Court Denies Stay in Dorcas decision: USCIS Must Continue Processing Applications from 39 Affected Countries

On July 15, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island denied the federal government’s request to stay the court’s earlier ruling in Dorcas International Institute of Rhode Island v. USCIS, pending its appeal. This means that USCIS must continue to process and adjudicate immigration applications and petitions from the 39 affected countries while the government’s appeal moves forward.

Prior Ruling and USCIS Statement

On June 5, 2026, the court held that USCIS exceeded its statutory authority by implementing policies that effectively halted the adjudication of immigration benefits for nationals of designated “travel ban” countries. The court found that these policies violated both the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) and the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).

Specifically, the court vacated policies that suspended adjudication of many applications and petitions filed on behalf of nationals of designated countries, paused certain asylum-related adjudications, required re-review of previously approved immigration benefits and directed adjudicators to treat an applicant’s country of origin as a significant negative discretionary factor.

On June 12, 2026, after the court directed that USCIS detail the concrete steps it had taken to comply with the court order, USCIS announced that the policy memoranda placing an adjudicatory hold on cases from the affected countries would be treated as if they are no longer in effect, pending further litigation.

Latest Update: Stay Denied

On June 12, the Department of Justice filed an appeal and requested a stay to halt the court’s June 5 order during the appellate process. By denying this stay on July 15, 2026, the court ensures that the original ruling lifting the hold on adjudications, remains fully active and that USCIS is legally required to continue adjudication of affected cases while the higher court reviews the case.

The processing mandate applies to:

• Adjustment of status applications
• Nonimmigrant and Immigrant Visa Petitions
• Employment authorization requests
• Naturalization applications
• Certain asylum-related benefits.

Gibney practitioners are pleased to report resumption of case processing, including approvals, for affected clients.

Impact on Employers and Next Steps

Employers should review pending petitions or applications for employees from affected countries.  As USCIS works through backlogged files, employers should expect to receive final adjudications and should also be prepared to receive potential Requests for Evidence (RFEs), interview notices and/or biometric appointments.

Aisling Ryan