A new directive that took effect on April 27, 2026 requires every pending immigration case with biometrics collected before that date to undergo enhanced FBI fingerprint re-vetting through the Next Generation Identification (NGI) system. According to internal emails obtained by ClinchLaw, USCIS officers may not approve any application—green cards, naturalization, asylum, EADs—until the refreshed criminal-history check comes back. With roughly 11.6 million applications in backlog, the policy amounts to a de facto processing freeze. USCIS insists the delay will be “brief,” yet offers no timetable, and the agency is not sending individual notices.
![Fingerprint Re-Vetting Freeze Hits 11.6 Million Pending USCIS Cases]()
For applicants trying to navigate these sudden hurdles, a resource like VisaHQ can step in to streamline the process. Through its U.S. platform (https://www.visahq.com/united-states/), VisaHQ provides personalized checklists, deadline reminders, and live support that help ensure forms, biometrics appointments, and follow-up evidence are submitted correctly the first time—critical safeguards while the NGI re-vetting bottleneck persists.
Applicants only discover the hold when case-status updates stall or biometrics rescheduling letters arrive. The re-vetting stems from a February 6 Executive Order directing the Justice Department to share deeper criminal databases with DHS. The NGI feed gives adjudicators arrest records that once took weeks to obtain. While USCIS frames the step as overdue modernization, immigration attorneys warn of cascading effects: expiring work permits, abandoned job offers and travel risks for adjustment applicants without advance parole. Federal litigation has begun. In Behdin v. Edlow, a California judge ordered USCIS to adjudicate 32 long-stalled EAD renewals, hinting that blanket holds could violate the Administrative Procedure Act. More class-action suits are expected as delays spread. For mobility managers the message is clear: file EAD renewals early, avoid international travel unless absolutely necessary, and assume adjudications will take months longer until USCIS clears the NGI backlog.
For applicants trying to navigate these sudden hurdles, a resource like VisaHQ can step in to streamline the process. Through its U.S. platform (https://www.visahq.com/united-states/), VisaHQ provides personalized checklists, deadline reminders, and live support that help ensure forms, biometrics appointments, and follow-up evidence are submitted correctly the first time—critical safeguards while the NGI re-vetting bottleneck persists.
Applicants only discover the hold when case-status updates stall or biometrics rescheduling letters arrive. The re-vetting stems from a February 6 Executive Order directing the Justice Department to share deeper criminal databases with DHS. The NGI feed gives adjudicators arrest records that once took weeks to obtain. While USCIS frames the step as overdue modernization, immigration attorneys warn of cascading effects: expiring work permits, abandoned job offers and travel risks for adjustment applicants without advance parole. Federal litigation has begun. In Behdin v. Edlow, a California judge ordered USCIS to adjudicate 32 long-stalled EAD renewals, hinting that blanket holds could violate the Administrative Procedure Act. More class-action suits are expected as delays spread. For mobility managers the message is clear: file EAD renewals early, avoid international travel unless absolutely necessary, and assume adjudications will take months longer until USCIS clears the NGI backlog.
