The suspension is scheduled to take effect on January 21 and will remain in place till further orders. Officials say visa processing will not resume until the reassessment has been completed.
The United States State Department has announced a pause on immigrant visa processing for applicants from 75 countries, as part of a wider effort to tighten immigration checks. The move is aimed at preventing visas from being granted to people considered likely to rely on public assistance after entering the country.
According to an internal State Department memo, cited by the Fox News, consular officials have been instructed to refuse certain visa applications under existing immigration laws. The pause will allow the department to review and strengthen its screening and vetting procedures.
The suspension is scheduled to take effect on January 21 and will remain in place till further orders. Officials say visa processing will not resume until the reassessment has been completed.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has also shared a post in this regard.
A number of countries across different regions are affected by the decision. Those listed include Somalia, Russia, Afghanistan, Brazil, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Nigeria, Thailand and Yemen, among others.
Trump’s stark warning after shooting of National Guard members
In November last year, Donald Trump said he intended to “permanently pause migration” from poorer countries and pledged to remove millions of immigrants from the United States by stripping them of their legal status. He justified the proposal by pointing to concerns over crime and pressure on housing. Since returning to the Oval Office in January, his harshest remark on immigration appeared in a social media post following the shooting of two National Guard members who had been deployed to patrol the streets of Washington.
“Only REVERSE MIGRATION can fully cure this situation,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.
