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US pauses visa processing for 75 countries including Pakistan, Bangladesh | Here's why
The suspension will begin January 21 and will not apply to applicants seeking non-immigrant visas or temporary tourist or business visas.
The US government, led by President Donald Trump, has paused the visa processing entirely for as many as 75 countries, including Pakistan and Bangladesh.
The move, part of Trump’s latest immigration crackdown, was announced by the State Department on Wednesday.
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Why has the US paused immigrant visas for 75 countries?
In an official statement, the Trump administration said it will 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 post, shared on social media platform X, added further.
The list of 75 countries includes Bangladesh, Pakistan, Iran, Russia and Nepal. Several others, including Afghanistan, Egypt, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Sudan, Thailand, and Yemen, were also on the list.
The suspension will begin January 21 and will not apply to applicants seeking non-immigrant visas or temporary tourist or business visas.
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
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 Associated Press 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 AP, 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.
