The State Department imposed an indefinite pause on immigrant visa processing for applicants from 75 countries beginning Jan. 21, citing a reassessment of screening standards aimed at preventing admission of individuals likely to rely on public benefits.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
The U.S. State Department has frozen immigrant visa processing for nationals of 75 countries, an action set to begin Jan. 21 and remain in effect indefinitely while the department reviews and tightens screening and vetting procedures under immigration law’s public charge provision, Fox News reported.
According to a State Department memo, consular officers have been instructed to refuse visas under existing law during the pause as officials reassess how applications are evaluated for the likelihood that an applicant could become a public charge. The affected countries include Somalia, Russia, Afghanistan, Brazil, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Nigeria, Thailand, Yemen, and dozens of others.
The department said the suspension will continue until the reassessment of visa processing is completed. Somalia has drawn particular scrutiny in recent months following a large fraud investigation in Minnesota that uncovered extensive abuse of taxpayer-funded benefit programs, with many of those charged identified as Somali nationals or Somali-Americans.
In November 2025, a State Department cable sent worldwide directed consular officers to enforce expanded screening requirements under the public charge provision of immigration law. The guidance instructs officers to deny visas to applicants deemed likely to depend on public assistance, weighing factors such as health, age, English proficiency, financial resources, and the potential need for long-term medical care. Applicants who are older, overweight, or who have previously used government cash assistance or been institutionalized could face denial.
“The State Department will use its long-standing authority to deem ineligible potential immigrants who would become a public charge on the United States and exploit the generosity of the American people,” State Department spokesperson Tommy Piggott said in a statement. “Immigration from these 75 countries will be paused while the State Department reassess immigration processing procedures to prevent the entry of foreign nationals who would take welfare and public benefits.”
While the public charge standard has existed for decades, its enforcement has varied across administrations, with consular officers historically exercising broad discretion. Under the current pause, exceptions will be “very limited” and granted only after applicants clear public charge considerations.
A 2022 version of the public charge rule implemented under the Biden administration narrowed the benefits considered, focusing primarily on cash assistance and long-term institutional care, and excluding programs such as SNAP, WIC, Medicaid, and housing vouchers. The Immigration and Nationality Act has long allowed consular officers to find applicants inadmissible on public charge grounds, but Donald Trump expanded the definition in 2019 to include a broader range of public benefits. That expansion faced court challenges, with parts blocked before being rescinded by the Biden administration.
The countries subject to the visa processing pause are Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Bhutan, Bosnia, Brazil, Burma, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Colombia, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominica, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, 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.
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