Immigration Rules

Attorney Roberto Velásquez says a U.S. program offering $1,000–$2,000 to migrants who leave voluntarily has prompted thousands of Hondurans to depart the country, proving more effective than he had expected.

Congress approved a law allowing Honduran migrants who return home to import household goods up to $200,000 and work equipment up to $150,000 duty-free; Finance Ministry officials have 60 days to establish the application process.

The Supreme Court has approved online filing for criminal-record certificates by Hondurans overseas, eliminating the need for physical documents and aiming to speed up migration regularization in Spain and elsewhere.

Honduras's ambassador to Washington said the government is closely tracking US Supreme Court decisions on temporary protected status for migrants, while offering Hondurans abroad tax exemptions on returning goods and tools to support eventual repatriation.

U.S. immigration authorities are placing greater emphasis on quality evidence in asylum applications, with an immigration lawyer warning that initial documentation can determine whether claims advance or face early rejection.

The US deported 17,650 Hondurans in the first five months of 2026, a 71% increase from the same period last year, as the country grapples with the return of migrants who left due to violence, poverty, and lack of opportunity.

Cases of Honduran migrants who vanished in Veracruz, Tamaulipas, and Jalisco over the past decade—including José Rafael Rivera in 2008, Aaron Eleazar Carrazco Turcios in 2012, and Oscar Antonio López Enamorado in 2010—remain unsolved as families hold out hope for information on their whereabouts.

The U.S. Embassy in Tegucigalpa explained that a denial under section 221(g) is not final and may require additional documents, while a 214(b) denial does reject that specific application but allows a future reapplication.

A new Trump administration policy bars migrants already in the United States from adjusting their immigration status domestically, forcing them to return to their home countries to apply for permanent residency at consulates—a change affecting more than half a million people annually, according to immigration experts.