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US pauses visa processing for 75 countries, including Pakistan, Bangladesh
The list of 75 countries include Bangladesh, Pakistan, Iran, Russia and Nepal.
The US State Department said it will suspend the processing of immigrant visas for citizens of 75 countries, including Pakistan, Russia and Iran, in a latest move against immigrants entering the country.
The move, part of Donald Trump’s latest immigration crackdown, comes as the State Department said it would pause immigrant visa processing for countries whose migrants “take welfare from the American people at unacceptable rates”.
"The freeze will remain active until the US can ensure that new immigrants will not extract wealth from the American people," the state department's social media post read.
The list of 75 countries include Bangladesh, Pakistan, Iran, Russia and Nepal. Several others, including Afghanistan, Egypt, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Sudan, Thailand and Yemen were also in the list.
The state department said the pause would impact “dozens of countries – including Somalia, Haiti, Iran, and Eritrea – whose immigrants often become public charges on the United States upon arrival.”
Full list of impacted countries
While the US government has not yet publicly released the list of countries that will be subject to the new travel curbs, a report in Fox News has cited a list of nations expected to be included under the latest restrictions.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt posted on X that the countries affected would include Somalia, whose people Trump has attacked in heated terms after immigrants were involved in a funding scandal in Minnesota, as well as Russia and Iran.
The full list of 75 countries part of Trump's latest move, according to Fox News, includes: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Bhutan, Bosnia, Brazil, Burma, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Colombia, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominica, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Republic of the Congo, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Uruguay, Uzbekistan and Yemen.
When will the restrictions kick in?
The State Department, led by Secretary Marco Rubio, said it had instructed consular officers to halt immigrant visa applications from the countries affected in accordance with a broader order issued in November that tightened rules around potential immigrants who might become “public charges” in the U.S.
The suspension will begin January 21 and will not apply to applicants seeking non-immigrant visas, or temporary tourist or business visas.
