01/14/2026
🚨 Immigrant Visa Processing Suspension Effective January 21 🚨
Starting January 21 (one week from today), the U.S. Department of State will suspend immigrant visa (IV) processing from 75 countries while it implements heightened scrutiny protocols tied to public charge determinations.
This follows guidance issued by Marco Rubio to consular posts in early November regarding public charge adjudication. Today’s announcement appears intended to give consulates time to operationalize and aggressively enforce that guidance.
đź“Ť Affected countries include:
Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Bhutan, Bosnia, Brazil, Burma, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Colombia, Côte 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.
The larger question practitioners should be watching closely is whether U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will take similar action in the adjustment of status context—particularly in light of USCIS’s pending Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on public charge.
If this pause signals what may be coming domestically, we could be entering a new phase of public charge enforcement with significant consequences for families, employers, and the immigration system as a whole.
Stay alert. This space is moving fast.
