U.S. authorities have announced they are suspending immigrant visa processing for applicants from 75 countries.
The suspension will take effect on January 21 and will affect applicants from several countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, the Balkans, South Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
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This change only affects people who wish to permanently reside in the United States. Does not apply to visitors or short-term visa holders. But the move comes five months before the U.S. hosts the FIFA World Cup with Canada and Mexico, and amid a series of crackdowns on immigrants, refugees, international students and visa applicants, raising questions about the U.S. attitude toward visitors.
Here’s what we know about the latest crackdown.
What did the US government announce?
The State Department announced that it has directed U.S. consulates general to stop processing immigrant visa applications from affected countries. The measure follows a sweeping order issued in November that tightened checks on immigrants who could potentially become an economic burden on the United States.
“The Trump Administration is committed to ending the abuse of our immigration system by those seeking to extract wealth from Americans,” the department said in a statement.
“Processing of immigrant visas from these 75 countries will be suspended and the State Department will reevaluate its immigration processing procedures to prevent the entry of foreign nationals receiving welfare and public benefits.”
How does it work?
Citizens of affected countries can continue to submit immigrant visa applications, but no immigrant visas will be approved or issued during the suspension period, the State Department said. The U.S. government has not specified a deadline for lifting the suspension.
An exception applies to dual nationals applying using a valid passport from a country not covered by the suspension.
This suspension does not apply to nonimmigrant, temporary, tourist, or business visas.
Which countries are affected?
The list of 75 countries includes:
What other steps has President Trump taken to restrict immigration?
In recent months, the Trump administration has tightened entry restrictions, particularly for people from countries that it deems have insufficient vetting processes or pose a potential national security risk. The State Department expanded immigration restrictions from these countries.
The White House said in a statement in January 2025 that the United States cannot accept large numbers of immigrants, especially refugees, without putting pressure on public resources, raising security concerns, or making it difficult to integrate newcomers.
In June, the administration went further, imposing a complete travel ban on nationals from 12 countries: Afghanistan, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Myanmar, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.
By October, the White House announced the lowest refugee admission cap in U.S. history, setting the 2026 refugee admission limit at just 7,500 people, most of whom would apply to white Afrikaners from South Africa. President Trump has debunked conspiracy theories alleging genocide against white South Africans, even as data shows the country is experiencing a high rate of violent crime and victims cross racial lines.
At the same time, the Trump administration cut foreign aid programs that help refugees living in other countries.
The administration has also moved to restrict skilled immigration, saying the goal is to protect American jobs. In September, it significantly increased fees for H-1B visas, which are used by U.S. companies to hire foreign workers, to $100,000 per application.
The government introduced additional travel restrictions following the arrest of an Afghan national in connection with the shooting death of two National Guard soldiers in Washington, D.C., in November. The banned list has been expanded to include six more countries, beyond the 12 countries whose citizens were previously barred from entering the country. The six new countries were Palestine, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan, and Syria.
Immigration authorities also suspended asylum applications and stopped processing citizenship and green card applications for people from countries initially affected by the ban.
Is the Trump administration also deporting people at a record pace?
There it is.
The Trump administration’s Department of Homeland Security announced it had deported more than 605,000 people by early December, with an additional 1.9 million people “voluntarily deported.”
As a result, according to an analysis by the Brookings Institution, in 2025, U.S. immigration will be net negative, with more immigrants leaving the country than coming in. This is the first time in 50 years. Brookings researchers estimated the net loss of immigration last year was between 10,000 and 295,000 people.
