This page lists the main current US federal actions touching Guatemala or Guatemalans, each with its agency, its date and its primary source. Each row points to the page that explains what it means for Guatemalans in the US and their families.
Last checked: 25 September 2026 (except the immigrant visa pause row, read on 23 September 2026, when travel.state.gov could still be read). In force now: a 10% US tariff on Guatemalan products unless exempted (since July 24, 2026), the 1% remittance tax on cash-funded transfers (since January 1, 2026), new asylum fees and procedures, the alien registration requirement, and the CBP Home program with a $3,000 exit bonus. Guatemala’s US travel advisory is Level 3 (dated March 11, 2026). Ended: the April 2025 reciprocal tariff, the February-July 2026 import surcharge and the Family Reunification Parole processes (a court order protects parole already granted). The 2026 immigrant visa pause was vacated on August 21, 2026, with an appeal and a stay motion pending when we last read the docket (23 September).
Immigration and status
| Action | Agency | Date | Who it affects | Primary source | Our explainer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asylum fees codified: $100 at filing plus an annual fee. After notice, an annual fee unpaid for 30 days means the pending I-589 is rejected, a pending asylum-based work-permit application is rejected or denied, and an existing asylum-based work permit terminates. USCIS says it is not collecting these fees from Ms. L. settlement class members and their qualifying family members as of February 5, 2026 (court order) | DHS / USCIS, interim final rule USCIS Immigration Fees and Related Procedures Required by H.R.1 Reconciliation Bill (91 FR 22952) | Effective May 29, 2026 | Asylum applicants (the principal applicant, per USCIS’s Form I-589 page) | Federal Register 2026-08333 | Asylum for Guatemalans |
| USCIS may refer some affirmative asylum cases to immigration court without an interview (it still offers an interview before a grant or denial) | DHS / USCIS (interim final rule, 91 FR 47101) | Effective July 28, 2026 | Affirmative asylum applicants | Federal Register 2026-15190 | Asylum for Guatemalans |
| Proposed: pause initial asylum-based work-permit applications when affirmative processing averages over 180 days; waiting period to 365 days (affects affirmative and defensive applicants, DHS says) | DHS (proposed rule, 91 FR 8616) | Proposed February 23, 2026; no final rule found on September 25, 2026 | Asylum applicants seeking a work permit | Federal Register 2026-03595 | Asylum for Guatemalans |
| Alien registration: Form G-325R for non-citizens who were never registered; the final rule adjusts which forms count. USCIS says that, given the injunction in Casa Inc. v. Trump (D. Md., Sep. 2, 2026), DHS will not apply its September 4, 2026 interim rule or the 09/04/26 edition of Form G-325R to members of the certified class | DHS / USCIS (final rule, 91 FR 39248) | Effective June 29, 2026 (new form first designated March 12, 2025) | Unregistered non-citizens required to register for stays of 30 days or longer (parents or guardians register children under 14), including people who entered without inspection; people who turn 14 in the US must re-register | USCIS registration page | Alien registration for Guatemalans |
| CBP Home: cost-free travel, $3,000 exit bonus, fine forgiveness for people without status who leave | DHS / CBP | DHS page last updated September 1, 2026 | Non-criminal non-citizens without status | DHS CBP Home page | CBP Home and Guatemalans |
| Family Reunification Parole processes for Guatemalans terminated; a January 24, 2026 court order (Svitlana Doe v. Noem, D. Mass.) stays the early termination of previously granted parole and related work authorization before their original end dates, USCIS says | DHS / USCIS (notice, 90 FR 58032) | December 15, 2025 | FRP beneficiaries and petitioners | Federal Register 2025-22744 | Family reunification parole |
| Notes on transferring Central American nationals to Guatemala (not Guatemalans) | DHS (publication of the June 2025 notes, 90 FR 31670) | Published July 15, 2025 | Non-Guatemalan Central Americans removed from the US | Federal Register 2025-13216 | The asylum cooperative agreement |
| Deportation flights to Guatemala and the reception center in zone 13 | ICE (US side); IGM (Guatemalan side) | Ongoing | Guatemalans removed from the US and their families | IGM statistics | What happens when a deportation flight lands |
Visas and travel
| Action | Agency | Date | Who it affects | Primary source | Our explainer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 75-country immigrant visa issuance pause, including Guatemala | State Department | From January 21, 2026; no longer in effect as of August 21, 2026 after a court vacated it (State Department notice read September 23, 2026; the government’s appeal and a motion to stay the judgment are pending) | Guatemalans with immigrant visa cases | State Department notice | US immigrant visa pause |
| Visa Bond Program made permanent: bonds of $10,000, $15,000 or $20,000 for covered B-1/B-2 applicants | State Department (final rule, 91 FR 48757) | Effective August 3, 2026 | Visitor-visa applicants from countries on the State Department’s list (Guatemala’s status not confirmed, see below) | Federal Register 2026-15726 | US visa interview wait |
| Visa integrity fee: for fiscal year 2025 the greater of $250 or an amount DHS sets by rule, charged at issuance of a nonimmigrant visa, inflation-adjusted, no waiver, possible reimbursement | Congress (Public Law 119-21, sec. 100007; 8 U.S.C. 1806), implemented by DHS | Enacted July 4, 2025; USCIS said in July 2025 it would be implemented in a future publication; collection start not confirmed | Anyone issued a US nonimmigrant visa | Public Law 119-21 (GovInfo) | US visa interview wait |
| Travel Advisory for Guatemala: Level 3, Reconsider Travel (crime and terrorism) | State Department | Published March 11, 2026 | US travellers to Guatemala | State Department advisory data | UK vs Canada vs US travel advice |
Money and trade
| Action | Agency | Date | Who it affects | Primary source | Our explainer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1% excise tax on remittance transfers funded with cash, a money order, a cashier’s check or a similar physical instrument | Congress (IRC section 4475); Treasury / IRS proposed rules | Transfers after December 31, 2025; proposed regulations April 13, 2026; no final rule on September 25, 2026 | Senders who pay the provider in cash or with a physical instrument | Federal Register 2026-07085 | The 1% US remittance tax |
| Section 301 tariff: 10% on products of Guatemala, with the exemptions in Annexes I and II of the notice (CAFTA-DR textiles and apparel entered duty-free among them) | USTR | From 12:01 a.m. ET July 24, 2026 | Importers of Guatemalan goods; Guatemalan exporters | Federal Register 2026-15181 | US tariffs on Guatemalan goods |
| Temporary 10% import surcharge (Proclamation 11012) | President | Effective February 24, 2026, scheduled through 12:01 a.m. EDT July 24, 2026 unless ended earlier or extended by Congress | Importers | Federal Register 2026-03824 | US tariffs on Guatemalan goods |
| April 2025 reciprocal tariffs ended (Executive Order 14389) | President | February 20, 2026 | Importers | Federal Register 2026-03832 | US tariffs on Guatemalan goods |
| US-Guatemala Agreement on Reciprocal Trade signed | USTR | January 30, 2026 (no US notice of entry into force found) | Exporters and importers | USTR press release | US tariffs on Guatemalan goods |
| Fiscal year 2027 raw cane sugar tariff-rate quota: Guatemala allocated an additional 3,254 metric tons raw value, on top of the July 24, 2026 allocations (91 FR 46822) | USTR (91 FR 60487) | Published September 23, 2026; quota year October 1, 2026 to September 30, 2027 | Guatemalan sugar exporters | Federal Register 2026-19399 | none yet |
| Guatemala on USDA’s list of regions considered affected with New World screwworm | USDA APHIS (notice, 90 FR 4714) | Effective November 1, 2024 (published January 16, 2025) | Importers of horses, ruminants, swine and dogs from Guatemala (the species the notice names) | Federal Register 2025-00939 | none yet |
Security, sanctions and cooperation
| Action | Agency | Date | What it is | Primary source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guatemala listed among major drug transit or major illicit drug producing countries for fiscal year 2027 | President (Presidential Determination) | Published September 18, 2026 | Annual list; Guatemala is named with 22 other countries. The determination adds: «A country’s presence on the foregoing list is not necessarily a reflection of its government’s counterdrug efforts» | Federal Register 2026-19251 |
| Sanctions (SDN list) on a person in Villa Canales and on two companies in Guatemala City, among others, under Executive Order 14059 (illicit drugs) | Treasury, OFAC | Action taken April 23, 2026; published August 6, 2026 (91 FR 50921) | OFAC says their property subject to US jurisdiction is blocked and US persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them | Federal Register 2026-15996 |
| Certification that the central governments of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras are taking ten listed steps, including combating corruption, securing borders and cooperating on the return of migrants | State Department (section 7045(b)(2)(A) of the FY 2026 appropriations act, and of the FY 2024 act as carried forward) | Dated July 1, 2026; published August 6, 2026 (91 FR 50913, 91 FR 50914) | Required certification under the appropriations acts | Federal Register 2026-15949 |
| Visit of five US Attorneys and prosecutors from nine federal districts to Guatemala | Department of Justice / US Embassy | September 22, 2026 | Cooperation on drug trafficking, smuggling and extraditions | US Embassy release |
| $3.5 million donation to Guatemala’s migration institute (IGM) for migration controls at land and sea entry points and road checkpoints | US Embassy | July 30, 2026 | Adds to $450,000 in equipment and technology provided in 2025 for La Aurora airport booths | US Embassy release (Spanish) |
| Proposed extension of the US-Guatemala agreement restricting imports of Guatemalan archaeological and ethnological material | State Department (Cultural Property Advisory Committee) | Committee meeting October 27-29, 2026 | Review of the extension | Federal Register 2026-19533 |
What we checked and could not confirm
- Is Guatemala on the visa bond country list? The August 3, 2026 final rule says covered countries are announced on travel.state.gov. That site returned an access-denied error (HTTP 403) to our reader on 25 September 2026, and the US Embassy in Guatemala’s visa page, read the same day, does not mention a visa bond. We do not state either way.
- Has the visa integrity fee started? The statute sets it; USCIS’s July 22, 2025 notice (90 FR 34511) said it «requires cross-agency coordination before implementing; the fee will be implemented in a future publication.» A Federal Register search for the fee’s name on 25 September 2026 returned two documents: that notice, and a July 17, 2026 DHS rule on student admission periods (FR 2026-14439) that mentions the fee only in a summary of public comments. Neither starts collection.
- Has the US-Guatemala trade agreement entered into force? Article 7.7 ties it to an exchange of notifications (30 days after), or to another date the parties decide; we found no US notice of it.
Related
Sources, read on 25 September 2026: Federal Register documents 2026-08333, 2026-15190, 2026-03595, 2026-13057 (citation and effective date from the Federal Register API), 2025-22744, 2025-13216, 2026-15726, 2026-07085, 2026-15181, 2026-03824, 2026-03832, 2026-19399, 2025-00939, 2026-19251, 2026-15996, 2026-15949, 2026-15950, 2026-19533 and 2025-23570 (Proclamation 10998), and a Federal Register search for documents naming Guatemala since January 1, 2025; USCIS Alien Registration Requirement page; USCIS fee schedule G-1055; DHS CBP Home page; Public Law 119-21 (GovInfo); USCIS notice of July 22, 2025 (90 FR 34511); State Department travel advisory data feed; USTR press release of January 30, 2026; US Embassy Guatemala releases of July 30 and September 22, 2026 and its visa page. Read on 24 September 2026: USCIS Form I-589 page and USCIS Family Reunification Parole page (court-order alert). Read on 23 September 2026: Diario de Centro América report locating the returnee reception center in zone 13. travel.state.gov refused scripted requests with HTTP 403 on 25 September 2026 (logged). Read on 23 September 2026: State Department notice on immigrant visa processing (the 75-country pause) and the court dockets for the appeal and stay motion. General information, not legal advice.
Frequently Asked Questions
What US government actions affect Guatemalans in 2026?
As of September 25, 2026 the main ones in force are: a 10% Section 301 tariff on products of Guatemala, with exemptions (from July 24, 2026); the 1% excise tax on cash-funded remittance transfers (transfers after December 31, 2025); the asylum fees codified by an interim rule effective May 29, 2026; USCIS’s power to refer some affirmative asylum cases to immigration court without an interview (from July 28, 2026); the alien registration requirement, with its final rule effective June 29, 2026; the CBP Home self-deportation program with a $3,000 exit bonus; the end of the Family Reunification Parole processes for Guatemalans (December 15, 2025; a January 24, 2026 court order stays the early termination of parole and work permits already granted); and a Level 3 Reconsider Travel advisory for Guatemala dated March 11, 2026. Each row in the tables below links the primary source and our explainer.
Is Guatemala on the US travel ban or visa pause?
Proclamation 10998 (Federal Register, December 19, 2025) suspends or limits entry for nationals of 39 countries; the word Guatemala does not appear in its text, and our explainer on the immigrant visa pause confirms Guatemala is not on those lists. Guatemala was included in the separate 75-country immigrant visa issuance pause from January 21, 2026; when we read the State Department notice on September 23, 2026 it said the pause is no longer in effect as of August 21, 2026 under a court order, with the government’s appeal and a motion to stay the judgment pending.
Is Guatemala on the US visa bond list?
We could not confirm it either way. The State Department’s final rule of August 3, 2026 made the visa bond program permanent (bonds of $10,000, $15,000 or $20,000 for covered B-1/B-2 applicants) but does not name countries; it says covered countries are announced on travel.state.gov, which returned an access-denied error to our reader on September 25, 2026. The US Embassy in Guatemala’s visa page, read the same day, does not mention a visa bond.
How often is this page updated?
The date at the top of the tables is the last full check. We add rows when the Federal Register, USCIS, DHS, ICE, CBP, the State Department or USTR publish a new action that names Guatemala, and each change is logged in the tables’ dates.
