The Trump administration’s sweeping effort to slow legal migration has reached a group traditionally exempt from immigration enforcement: noncitizen spouses of U.S. citizens. New policy restrictions are extending processing timelines and creating barriers that affect both family reunification and international mobility for this category.
What changed
The Trump administration’s sweeping effort to slow down the rate of legal migration has affected spouses of U.S. citizens. The administration has implemented a slew of policy changes since President Trump returned to the White House last year, ranging from pausing immigrant visas for people from 75 countries to imposing greater scrutiny of applicants at green-card interviews and widening the scope of who is a target for deportation.
For those from one of over 70 countries that face holds for a wide range of travel and immigrant visas, including countries subject to a travel ban to the U.S., citizenship applications filed by spouses have not yet been reviewed. There is no exception to the travel ban, even for spouses of U.S. military members.
USCIS officers are instructed to conduct more interviews. A memo last month encouraged officers to consider if someone had returned to their home country to apply for a green card when reviewing their application; those who stay in the U.S. may face longer and more intrusive vetting.
Delays at the consulates are also contributing to strain, and leaving some spouses or fiancés without any legal status at all. People who are marrying U.S. citizens often are no longer in status, whether they came in legally and then their status expired or their status was terminated, and then there’s extra scrutiny being applied to them now.
Why it matters
Processing delays for immediate relative petitions now extend 13 months on average for family members and seven months for fiancés. These timelines are largely in line with wait times from early 2025, before Trump’s policies took effect—but the additional scrutiny and visa holds have effectively extended delays for specific nationality groups.
For practitioners advising clients, the changes mean:
- Travel complications: Spouses from affected countries cannot travel internationally and return, even if their I-485 is pending or they’ve already obtained a green card, because the travel ban has no exceptions.
- Status gaps: Spouses who lose status while waiting for their green card interviews now face additional vetting and potential deportation risk, changing the calculus for what temporary status to maintain.
- Military family hardship: The ban affects military families disproportionately. One spouse of a U.S. Army service member scheduled to relocate to Germany in July had to postpone the move to October to attempt to complete citizenship processing before departure, creating complications with the family’s home ownership, childcare for two U.S. citizen children, and her husband’s military readiness.
- Interview burden: The memo encouraging officers to investigate whether applicants returned to their home country to apply for a green card creates a new documentary burden; applicants who remained in the U.S. throughout the process may face more intensive questioning.
Way forward
If you are advising a noncitizen spouse of a U.S. citizen, consider:
- Nationality screening: Immediately check whether the client is from one of the 75 countries subject to visa holds or one of the 39 countries on the travel ban. If so, plan for prolonged processing and counsel clients that travel during the pending application carries prohibitive risk.
- Status maintenance: If the spouse is not yet in status or in temporary status (e.g., was on TPS), do not allow that status to lapse before the green card interview is scheduled and held. Lost status combined with extra scrutiny creates exposure.
- Documentation strategy: Gather evidence showing the client has remained physically present in the U.S. throughout the family-based process. Prepare documentation in advance to rebut any allegation that the applicant “returned home” to apply for a green card.
- Military family exceptions: If the client is the spouse of an active-duty military member, note that no exception to the travel ban exists in current policy, and advise accordingly on relocation or separation scenarios.
Disclaimer
This article is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Fola is a software company, not a law firm. Immigration law is complex and rapidly changing. You should consult with a licensed immigration attorney to evaluate your specific situation and verify the current status of all policies discussed here against primary sources, including USCIS policy memoranda and the State Department visa bulletin. The policies described in this article may change without notice.