US pauses immigrant visa processing, spurring uncertainty, lawyers say

The U.S. government has paused immigrant visa interviews abroad, lawyers say, as the Trump administration continues to limit lawful ways to enter the country.

The American Immigration Lawyers Association says it has received notice of the State Department canceling immigrant visa application interviews across the globe.

Those applicants “did what the government asked them to do,” including security vetting, says Shev Dalal-Dheini, senior director of government relations at the association. “These roadblocks are just really playing with people’s lives.”

The move squares with the administration’s goals to restrict lawful immigration, including through refugee admissions, temporary protections, and a process called parole. The interview pause also seems to align with a broader visa-revocation campaign, and enhanced scrutiny of those who might become a “public charge” and rely on public funds.

The State Department, which did not explicitly confirm the processing pause, says the Trump administration is protecting Americans by “upholding the highest standards of screening and vetting of visa applicants.”

“Since early this year the State Department has been working on updating guidance and training related to public charge to ensure all consular officers are fully equipped to evaluate every visa applicant comprehensively and consistently,” a spokesperson said in an emailed statement signed by the press office.

The department “launched a global training initiative” in early August at all embassies and consulates, the statement said. “To accommodate this in-depth training, appointments for visa services will be adjusted.”

The pause comes as a federal judge in New York ruled this month against the administration’s prior immigrant visa freeze for citizens of 75 countries. That policy was “contrary to law and in excess of statutory authority,” Judge Jeannette Vargas wrote in an Aug. 21 order.

Ramon Curiel, a Texas immigration lawyer, says a client had already traveled several hundred miles for an interview at the U.S. consulate in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, when they received an email about the meeting’s cancellation. The email gave no reason or date for rescheduling, he says, and a sign outside the consulate repeated the news.

“It’s a shock,” says Mr. Curiel, who notes that processing visa applications can take a few years.

“Public charge”

There are two main types of U.S. visas: nonimmigrant and immigrant.

Nonimmigrant visas are for temporary travel to the United States, such as for work, school, or tourism. So far, the latest pause doesn’t appear to affect those visas.

Instead, recently canceled interviews involve immigrant visas, lawyers say. Those visas lead to lawful permanent residence – also known as a green card – upon arrival. Family or employment ties, among other factors, can make foreigners eligible for these visas.

In theory, the State Department can deny visas for applicants deemed likely to become a public charge, for example by relying on public benefits in the U.S. But enforcement has been “practically impossible,” because of affidavits that U.S. supporters can file, says Simon Hankinson, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation and a former Foreign Service officer.

Mr. Hankinson supports more public-charge enforcement – especially with the high national debt, he says.

For now, confusion mounts as visa applicants – and those who counsel them – wait for more information.

Practicing immigration law under this administration, the lawyer Mr. Curiel says, is like “trying to build a house in the middle of an earthquake.”