U.S. Immigration Restrictions and Iranian Nationals: Understanding Your Options

For Iranian nationals hoping to reunite with family, continue their education, work, or find safety in the United States, recent immigration restrictions have created understandable uncertainty. But being Iranian does not automatically make someone ineligible for every immigration benefit. Your options depend on where you are, your immigration history, the benefit you seek, and whether an exception applies.

Understanding the restrictions

Executive Order 14161, issued in January 2025, directed federal agencies to strengthen immigration screening and identify countries whose information-sharing practices the administration considered inadequate. It established the framework for later restrictions; it did not itself create a blanket prohibition on benefits for nationals of 19 countries.

Presidential Proclamation 10949 subsequently imposed full or partial entry restrictions on nationals of 19 countries. Proclamation 10998 expanded that framework, effective January 1, 2026, to 39 countries and certain Palestinian Authority travel documents. The administration cites concerns about identity verification, security screening, information sharing, and immigration compliance. These country-based policies do not establish that an individual applicant has committed wrongdoing.

Iran is among the 19 countries currently subject to full visa suspensions, with exceptions: Afghanistan, Burma (Myanmar), Burkina Faso, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Mali, Niger, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. Other listed countries face narrower restrictions. For covered Iranian applicants, the suspension reaches both immigrant visas and temporary visas, including visitor, student, and employment categories.

Visa restrictions and applications inside the United States are different

A visa allows someone to travel to a U.S. port of entry and request admission. An application for asylum or adjustment of status inside the United States involves a different process.

USCIS previously imposed broad processing holds affecting asylum and benefits sought by people from designated countries. However, its August 28, 2026 announcement states that a federal court enjoined memoranda PM-602-0192 and PM-602-0194 and ordered applications adjudicated through the agency’s normal process. Accordingly, older reports that all affected applications remain indefinitely frozen should not be treated as current guidance. Litigation and implementation still require monitoring.

A separate 75-country immigrant-visa pause also ended following a court order in August 2026. That development did not, by itself, eliminate the presidential proclamation’s separate restrictions.

Options that may remain available

1. Asylum for qualifying people already in the United States

Iranian nationals physically present in the United States may seek asylum if they meet the legal requirements. Asylum protects people who have suffered persecution or have a well-founded fear of persecution because of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group. Depending on the evidence, threats arising from political activism, religious beliefs or conversion, or other protected characteristics may support a claim. Iranian nationality alone is insufficient.

Applications generally must be filed within one year of arrival, although changed or extraordinary circumstances can justify exceptions. Someone who has missed that deadline should obtain advice promptly rather than assume no protection remains available.

Asylum is not a general substitute for an unavailable visa. Filing does not itself grant asylum, a green card, or immediate permission to work. Applicants must assess eligibility, evidence, filing requirements, and the possibility of proceedings before an immigration judge.

2. Applying as a dual national using an unrestricted passport

The proclamation includes an exception for dual nationals traveling on a passport issued by a country outside its designated list. An Iranian citizen who also holds qualifying citizenship elsewhere may therefore have a route to a visa.

This requires actual citizenship and the appropriate passport. Residence in another country—or simply attending a visa interview there—does not establish the exception. Applicants must disclose their citizenships truthfully and satisfy the visa category’s ordinary requirements. The exception removes a particular restriction; it does not guarantee approval.

3. The immigrant-visa exception for persecuted Iranian minorities

The proclamation preserves an exception for immigrant visas for ethnic and religious minorities facing persecution in Iran. A potentially qualifying applicant should have both the persecution evidence and the underlying immigrant-visa eligibility evaluated. This exception does not itself create a new visa category or a general exemption for tourist or student visas.

4. Adjustment of status for eligible applicants already here

Some people already in the United States may qualify for permanent residence through a family or employment-based category. Eligibility depends on factors including admission or parole, visa availability, admissibility, and any applicable bars involving status violations or unauthorized employment.

An Iranian applicant should therefore receive an individualized adjustment-of-status assessment rather than assume a consular visa restriction forecloses a domestic green-card application. A qualifying relationship or approved petition alone does not guarantee eligibility.

5. Other exceptions and individual review

Lawful permanent residents are excepted from the proclamation. Its scope also depends on a person’s location and visa validity on the applicable effective date. Certain applicants may qualify for a discretionary national-interest exception.

However, marriage to a U.S. citizen no longer provides the categorical immigrant-visa exception that existed under the earlier proclamation. Families should assess the current rules before paying fees or arranging travel.

Protect your options before making your next move

Keep copies of your passports, visas, I-94, immigration filings, and government notices. Continue responding to deadlines and attending required appointments. Before departing the United States, withdrawing an application, or pursuing a different immigration process, obtain advice about how that decision could affect your case.

At Eclipse Immigration Partners, we help clients understand which restrictions apply and evaluate available paths based on their individual circumstances. To discuss your situation, contact info@eclipselaw.org or visit eclipselaw.org. Farsi assistance is available by appointment.