© 2026 Farhad Sethna, Lawyer
The US Division of State has issued a brand new directive to consulates worldwide, asking them to pause immigrant visa functions to examine whether or not candidates pose a possible to hunt public advantages whereas in america.
The directive comes weeks after the US authorities understood what it stated was substantial fraud in public advantages, particularly, childcare facilities operated by Somalis in Minnesota.
Comparable claims will in all probability be made about different immigrant communities which depend on sure sorts of social providers in america.
All of that is in fact in line with the Trump administration’s need to curb immigration to the USA, to demonize immigrants, and to attempt to deport as many immigrants – each lawful in addition to undocumented – by any means potential, together with unfounded and baseless allegations.
As well as, the Division of State has up to date the checklist of nations whose nationals could also be required to submit a visa bond when making use of for a customer visa (B-1/B-2 for enterprise or tourism).
“Any citizen or nationwide touring on a passport issued by certainly one of these nations, who’s discovered in any other case eligible for a B1/B2 visa, should submit a bond for $5,000, $10,000, or $15,000. The quantity is decided on the time of the visa interview.”
These directives come because the US gears as much as host the World Cup, the last word sporting occasion on the planet for soccer (soccer) within the USA.
The directives, as is common for Trump orders, are obscure. It requires consulates to vet candidates for immigrant and nonimmigrant visas for potential use of public advantages within the USA. Candidates might want to fill out an extra kind to justify to the State Division that they won’t be probably in search of any public advantages on admission to the USA. The division will even ask whether or not they have ever obtained any public advantages anyplace on the planet in some other nation, as a figuring out issue of whether or not the applicant will even depend on public advantages within the US.
Among the components that the Division of State requires officers to look into embrace the next: age, well being, household standing, funds, training, abilities, and – as famous above – previous use of public help anyplace on the planet. The Consulates are additionally now required to evaluate the applicant’s English proficiency and are allowed to take action by conducting interviews in English. This may clearly pose a extreme burden to people who don’t communicate the English language, and are coming to the USA for nonimmigrant functions – for instance, tourism, to attend the World Cup, enterprise, and so on.
Presently, 75 nations are on the State Division’s checklist for this heightened immigrant visa screening. Full particulars of all of the nations might be discovered within the article from NPR, which you will discover right here:
For additional particulars, within the ever widening and unsubstantiated selections of the Trump administration to limit immigration, please keep tuned to this web site.
© Farhad Sethna, Lawyer, 2026
Farhad Sethna has practiced regulation for over 30 years. He was awarded his JD in 1990 and his MBA in 1991, each from the College of Akron. Since 1996, he has additionally been an adjunct professor of Immigration Regulation on the College of Akron, College of Regulation, in Akron, Ohio, the place he wrote and continues to make use of his personal immigration textbook. Lawyer Sethna is a frequent speaker at Persevering with Authorized Training {and professional} growth seminars on numerous immigration-related subjects. His observe is proscribed to immigration and small enterprise. He has received awards for excellence in instructing and for pro-bono service. With workplaces in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, Lawyer Sethna represents purchasers in all sorts of immigration circumstances earlier than federal businesses and the immigration courts nationwide. A non-public pilot, it’s Farhad’s aim to fly to every of Ohio’s 88 county airports. Our quantity is: (330) 384-8000. Please ship your basic immigration inquiries to farhad@sethnalaw.com. We’ll attempt to reply as many questions as potential.
