The US is suspending the method for immigrant visas from 75 nations, the Division of State stated on Wednesday.
Candidates from nations together with Iran, Russia, Afghanistan, Somalia, Thailand and Brazil will likely be impacted by the pause, as a result of start on 21 January, because the Trump administration continues its crackdown on immigration.
The Division of State stated the pause will deliver “an finish to the abuse of America’s immigration system by those that would extract wealth from the American individuals”.
The principal deputy spokesperson for the division, Tommy Pigott, stated the suspension – which doesn’t affect short-term visas together with these for the 2026 males’s soccer World Cup – is being applied in a bid “to stop the entry of overseas nationals who would take welfare and public advantages”.
He added: “The State Division will use its long-standing authority to deem ineligible potential immigrants who would change into a public cost on the USA and exploit the generosity of the American individuals.”
The choice comes amid a rising presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in cities throughout the US, together with in Minneapolis, the place Renee Good, a 37-year-old mom of three, was shot lifeless in her automobile final week throughout an ICE operation.
In December, the Trump administration paused immigration applications submitted by nationals from 19 countries that had been banned from journey earlier in 2025, in response to a US Citizenship and Immigration Providers (USCIS) coverage doc.
In a submit on X, the Division of State, which stated on Monday it has revoked greater than 100,000 visas since Mr Trump took workplace, stated: “The freeze will stay energetic till the US can be certain that new immigrants won’t extract wealth from the American individuals”.
In a follow-up submit, it stated: “The Trump Administration will at all times put America First.”
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David Bier, director of Immigration Research on the Cato Institute and The Selz Basis Chair in Immigration Coverage, stated the Trump administration “has confirmed itself to have probably the most anti-legal immigration agenda in American historical past.
“This motion will ban almost half of all authorized immigrants to the USA, turning away about 315,000 authorized immigrants over the following 12 months alone.”
The total record of nations affected by the suspension introduced on Wednesday is:
Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Bhutan, Bosnia, Brazil, Burma, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Colombia, Congo, Cuba, Dominica, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Ivory Coast, 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.
