Trump suspends immigrant visas for 75 countries: Who’s affected?

United States authorities person said they volition suspend the processing of migrant visas for applicants from 75 countries.

The suspension volition instrumentality effect connected January 21 and volition impact applicants from Latin America and the Caribbean, the Balkans, and respective countries successful South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.

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• list 1 of 1Trump medication to suspend migrant visa processing for 75 countries

The alteration lone affects radical who privation to determination to the US permanently. It does not use to visitors oregon short-term visa holders. But the latest determination comes 5 months earlier the US hosts the FIFA World Cup on with Canada and Mexico, astatine a clip erstwhile a bid of crackdowns connected immigrants, refugees, overseas students and visa applicants person raised questions astir its cognition towards visitors.

Here is what we cognize astir the latest crackdown:

What has the US medication announced?

The State Department said it had told US consulates to halt processing migrant visa applications from the affected countries. The determination follows a broader bid issued successful November that tightened checks connected imaginable immigrants who could go a fiscal load connected the US.

“The Trump medication is bringing an extremity to the maltreatment of America’s migration strategy by those who would extract wealthiness from the American people,” the section said successful a statement.

“Immigrant visa processing from these 75 countries volition beryllium paused portion the State Department reassess migration processing procedures to forestall the introduction of overseas nationals who would instrumentality payment and nationalist benefits.”

How does it work?

According to the State Department, nationals of the affected countries whitethorn inactive taxable migrant visa applications, but nary migrant visas volition beryllium approved oregon issued portion the intermission is successful place. The US authorities has not indicated immoderate deadline for erstwhile the suspension mightiness beryllium lifted.

An objection applies to dual nationals who use utilizing a valid passport from a state not included successful the suspension.

The suspension volition not use to non-immigrant, temporary, tourist, oregon concern visas.

Which countries are affected?

The database of 75 countries includes:

What different steps has Trump taken to restrict immigration?

In caller months, the Trump medication has tightened migration rules, peculiarly for radical from countries whose vetting processes it has said are not robust enough, oregon that it believes are imaginable national security risks. The State Department has expanded limits connected migration from these nations.

In a connection released successful January 2025, the White House said the US could not judge ample numbers of migrants, particularly refugees, without putting unit connected nationalist resources, creating information concerns, oregon making it harder for newcomers to integrate.

In June, the medication went further by imposing a afloat question prohibition connected citizens 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 exile admissions headdress successful US history, mounting a bounds of conscionable 7,500 refugees for the 2026 fiscal twelvemonth – mostly to beryllium utilized for achromatic Afrikaners from South Africa. Trump has amplified debunked conspiracy theories alleging a genocide against achromatic South Africans, though information shows that convulsive transgression is precocious successful the country, with victims crossed races.

At the aforesaid time, the Trump medication has chopped overseas assistance programmes that enactment refugees surviving successful different countries.

The medication has besides moved to bounds skilled immigration, saying the purpose is to support jobs for US citizens. In September, it sharply accrued the interest for H-1B visas – utilized by US companies to prosecute overseas workers – raising the outgo to $100,000 per application.

Following the apprehension of an Afghan nationalist linked to the November shooting of 2 National Guard members successful Washington, DC, the authorities introduced further question restrictions. The prohibition database was expanded to see six much countries, beyond the 12 countries whose citizens were antecedently banned. The six caller additions were Palestine, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan and Syria.

Immigration officials besides paused asylum cases and stopped processing citizenship and greenish paper applications for radical from the countries archetypal affected by the bans.

Has the Trump medication besides been deporting radical astatine grounds rates?

It has.

By aboriginal December, Trump’s Department of Homeland Security said it had deported much than 605,000 people, portion different 1.9 cardinal radical had “self-deported”.

As a result, the US had nett antagonistic migration – much immigrants near the state than those who entered – successful 2025, the archetypal clip successful 50 years that this has happened, according to an investigation by the Brookings Institution. The researchers astatine Brookings estimated that the nett nonaccomplishment of immigrants past twelvemonth was betwixt 10,000 and 295,000 people.