On January 14, 2026, the Division of State (DOS) introduced a brief pause on the issuance of immigrant visas (inexperienced playing cards from abroad) for nationals of 75 international locations, efficient January 21, 2026. DOS stated this pause is for the federal government to assessment how immigrant visa candidates are evaluated underneath the “public cost” guidelines. In saying this assessment, the federal government has indicated it needs stricter requirements to forestall new immigrants from receiving any public help.
This coverage applies solely to immigrant visas (inexperienced card processing by means of a U.S. embassy or consulate) for candidates who’re:
- Nationals of one of many 75 international locations recognized by DOS, and
- Making use of for an immigrant visa overseas (not adjustment of standing in the USA).
The affected international locations embody Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Burma, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominica, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, The Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyz Republic, Laos, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Pakistan, Republic of the Congo, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, and Yemen.
Candidates from these international locations might attend their visa interviews, however their immigrant visas is not going to be issued in the interim, until a restricted exception applies. A twin nationwide making use of with a sound passport of a rustic that’s not listed above is exempt from this pause. No immigrant visas have been revoked as a part of this steering.
Cyrus Mehta instructed Law360 “it boggles the thoughts” that the administration would ban immigrant visas for practically half the world based mostly on “mere hypothesis” that these immigrants would come to depend on public advantages.
“Most new immigrants should not even eligible for advantages, and their admission as immigrants is conditioned by legally binding affidavits of help from their sponsors who’ve met the revenue necessities,” Mehta stated.
Additionally it is exhausting to think about that immigrants from Kuwait, Kazakhstan or Uruguay can be lining up for advantages after they immigrate to the US. These immigrating by means of a relative who’s a US citizen or everlasting resident should even be sponsored by means of an affidavit of help the place the sponsor should have the ability to display an revenue that’s 125% over the poverty line based mostly on the dimensions of the household being sponsored. These immigrating by means of employment based mostly on a labor certification have to be promised a wage that is the same as or larger than the prevailing wage within the occupation by means of which they’ve been sponsored or by means of an funding within the quantity of $800,000 to $1,050,000.
The American Immigration Council has acknowledged in a weblog put up that after acquiring a inexperienced card, eligible immigrants are topic to a five-year ready interval earlier than they might apply for SNAP (meals stamps) help, with restricted exceptions.
The actual motive for the pause is as a result of the Trump administration disfavors immigration to the USA, regardless of whether or not it’s authorized or unlawful. Trump’s senior coverage advisor within the White Home, Stephen Miller, has demonstrated xenophobic and racist views in the direction of immigrants. He has admired the Nationwide Origins Act of 1924, which offered for an annual restrict of 150,000 Europeans, a whole prohibition on Japanese immigration and which preserved the already present racial and ethnic establishment of the USA. This legislation rejected George Washington’s view that the USA ought to ever be “an asylum to the oppressed and the needy of the earth.”
The State Division’s pause on immigrant visas to nationals of 75 international locations underneath the pretext that they’ll obtain public advantages is a lie. The actual motive for the pause, which follows a journey ban on nationals of 39 international locations, is to drastically prohibit immigration to the US. The Trump administration by means of Stephen Miller is attaining a ban on immigration with no need to undergo laws just like the Nationwide Origins Act of 1924. It’s doing so by means of government fiat pursuant to INA 212(f), which permits the president to droop the entry of noncitizens who he deems can be detrimental to the USA.
The Trump administration’s blocking of practically half the world from acquiring immigration visas can be a misplaced alternative for the USA. The slim minded considering of Trump’s primary immigration coverage architect, Stephen Miller, prevents him from seeing how these immigrants would contribute to the US by means of their achievements in science, enterprise, arts and lots of different fields of endeavor in addition to by means of their want to work exhausting to raised themselves and their households.
