The State Division is pausing immigrant visa processing for 75 international locations in an effort to crack down on candidates deemed prone to grow to be a public cost.
A State Division memo, seen first by Fox Information Digital, directs consular officers to refuse visas below present legislation whereas the division reassesses screening and vetting procedures.
The international locations embrace Somalia, Russia, Afghanistan, Brazil, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Nigeria, Thailand, Yemen and extra.
The pause will start Jan. 21 and can proceed indefinitely till the division conducts a reassessment of immigrant visa processing.
Somalia has drawn heightened scrutiny from federal officers following a sweeping fraud scandal centered in Minnesota, the place prosecutors uncovered large abuse of taxpayer-funded profit packages.
A lot of these concerned are Somali nationals or Somali-People.
In November 2025, a State Division cable despatched to posts across the globe instructed consular officers to implement sweeping new screening guidelines below the so-called “public cost” provision of immigration legislation.
The steerage instructs consular officers to disclaim visas to candidates deemed prone to depend on public advantages, weighing a variety of things together with well being, age, English proficiency, funds and even potential want for long-term medical care.
Older or obese candidates could possibly be denied, together with those that had any previous use of presidency money help or institutionalization.
“The State Division will use its long-standing authority to deem ineligible potential immigrants who would grow to be a public cost on the US and exploit the generosity of the American individuals,” State Division spokesperson Tommy Piggott mentioned in a press release.
“Immigration from these 75 international locations might be paused whereas the State Division reassess immigration processing procedures to forestall the entry of overseas nationals who would take welfare and public advantages.”
Right here’s the most recent on the Minnesota fraud scheme:
Whereas the general public cost provision has existed for many years, enforcement has various extensively throughout administrations, with consular officers traditionally given broad discretion in making use of the usual.
Exceptions to the brand new pause might be “very restricted” and solely allowed after an applicant has cleared public cost issues
A 2022 model of the general public cost rule below the Biden administration had restricted the scope of advantages thought-about — primarily to money help and long-term institutional care — excluding packages just like the Supplemental Diet Help Program, the federal supplemental diet program for girls, infants and kids, generally known as WIC, Medicaid or housing vouchers.
The Immigration and Nationality Act has lengthy permitted consular officers to deem candidates inadmissible on public cost grounds, however President Donald Trump in 2019 expanded the definition to incorporate a broader vary of public advantages.
That growth was challenged in court docket, with parts in the end blocked earlier than being rescinded by the Biden administration.
The total listing of nations includes of 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.
