The State Department has temporarily halted immigrant visa processing at every U.S. embassy and consular post around the globe, according to a department official who confirmed the move on Tuesday. Consular staff have had their appointment schedules reshuffled since early August to make room for what the official described as “in-depth training.” The department noted that it has been crafting new protocols and instructional materials since the start of the year “to ensure all consular officers are fully equipped to evaluate every visa applicant comprehensively and consistently.”
People who had interviews lined up were notified by email that their sessions were scrapped, with a promise that fresh dates and times would be shared later, as reported by the Financial Times. The official framed the suspension as a safeguard to prevent visa holders from depending on U.S. taxpayer-funded assistance. This step fits into a wider push by the administration to tighten the reins on both legal and unauthorized immigration, aiming for a more rigorous admissions system.
Just this week, the administration unveiled a separate initiative to strip visas from asylum seekers who originally arrived on tourist or business travel. That move could touch as many as 200,000 individuals currently pursuing asylum, marking what would be the biggest single revocation of visas in American history. The effort is being carried out alongside the Department of Homeland Security.
Visa hopefuls have also been grappling with added hurdles under this administration, such as mandatory social media vetting and steeper application costs, per the Associated Press.
This latest suspension follows a prior administration bid to bar applicants under “public charge” rules, which included a sweeping restriction affecting nationals from 75 countries—a policy a federal judge recently struck down. “The court made clear that immigration laws cannot be used to justify discrimination,” Joanna Cuevas Ingram, senior staff attorney at the National Immigration Law Center, said in a statement last week. She added that the center is committed to securing relief for everyone impacted by that ban and will keep pressing the administration for accountability.
Back in February, another federal judge invalidated the president’s effort to dismantle the U.S. refugee admissions system altogether. Additionally, federal agents have been permitted to turn away asylum seekers at the border, a practice that human rights groups argue violates international asylum protections.
Legal experts say the new restriction will create immediate hurdles for people who have already navigated a demanding and drawn-out procedure. Many of those caught in the pause likely “spent thousands of dollars and disrupted their lives to attend scheduled interviews, only to have their appointments cancelled at the last minute,” Brian Simmons, an attorney at immigration law firm Fragomen in Washington, told the Financial Times. There’s no word yet on when these interviews might be rescheduled.
The State Department’s public statement offered no timeline for when visa operations might restart or when the training initiative would wrap up.