By Michael T. Jackson
The U.S. Department of State announced on 14 January 2026 that it would be pausing visa issuances for immigrant visa applicants that are foreign nationals from 75 countries identified by the department while it undergoes “a full review of all policies, regulations, and guidance to ensure that immigrants from these high-risk countries do not utilize welfare in the United State or become a public charge.” The suspension of visa issuance would be effective as of 21 January 2026, and no time frame has been provided as to when the pause might be lifted. Restrictions under this pause only include immigrant visa applications being processed and issued by the State Department and consulates worldwide, and nonimmigrant visa applications are not included within this action.
According to information released by the State Department, affected individuals can still submit visa applications, schedule appointments, and attend scheduled interviews, but consulates will not issue any new visas until the pause is lifted. Individuals who are dual nationals and have a valid passport for a non-paused country are exempt, provided they are applying for a visa related to the country not affected by the immigrant visa pause.
This pause coincides with ongoing regulatory efforts by the Trump administration to rescind public charge ground of inadmissibility regulations implemented in 2022 in response to regulatory changes undertaken during the first Trump administration to broaden the scope of what could be considered a public charge. The Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a proposed rule in November 2025 to rescind nearly all of the 2022 regulations, indicating that it would implement replacement regulations at a future date to be determined. USCIS accepted comments on the rule late last year, and these comments must be reviewed before the agency can finalize and publish a final rule in the Federal Register. No timeline has been indicated as to when that process will be completed and a final rule published.
Between the countries included under this new immigrant visa pause and the current countries encompassed by a full or partial travel ban under the presidential proclamation signed by President Trump on 16 December 2025, 91 nations will now be impacted by U.S. policies preventing individuals from receiving U.S. immigrant visas.
According to the Cato Institute’s David Bier, over 40% of all countries worldwide would be affected, with Africa being the hardest hit, with 70% of nationalities included. Bier estimates that, based on CY 2024 visa issuance volume as published by the Department of State, approximately 324,000 legal immigrants would be barred under current policies. Of those, Bier estimates an impact in the employment-based categories of 13,531, accounting for 23.2% of the category’s visas. However, the policies would have a much higher impact on family-related visas, with over 220,000 legal immigrants being impacted.
Countries impacted by the immigrant visa issuance pause and/or the current travel bans are:
Full Travel Ban Countries*
Full travel ban countries included in the immigrant visa pause (14 countries)
- Afghanistan
- Burma
- Eritrea
- Haiti
- Iran
- Laos
- Libya
- Republic of the Congo
- Sierra Leone
- Somalia
- South Sudan
- Sudan
- Syria
- Yemen
Full travel ban countries not included in the immigrant visa pause (5 countries)
- Burkina Faso
- Chad
- Equatorial Guinea
- Mali
- Niger
Partial Travel Ban Countries*
Partial travel ban countries included in the immigrant visa pause (9 countries)
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Cote d’Ivoire
- Cuba
- Dominica
- Gambia
- Nigeria
- Senegal
- Tanzania
- Togo
Partial travel ban countries not included in the immigrant visa pause (11 countries)
- Angola
- Benin
- Burundi
- Gabon
- Malawi
- Mauritania
- Tonga
- Turkmenistan
- Venezuela
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
Non-Travel Ban Countries*
Non-travel ban countries included in the immigrant visa pause (52 countries)
- Albania
- Algeria
- Armenia
- Azerbaijan
- Bahamas
- Bangladesh
- Barbados
- Belarus
- Belize
- Bhutan
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Brazil
- Cambodia
- Cameroon
- Cape Verde
- Colombia
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Egypt
- Ethiopia
- Fiji
- Georgia
- Ghana
- Grenada
- Guatamala
- Guinea
- Iraq
- Jamaica
- Jordan
- Kazakhstan
- Kosovo
- Kuwait
- Kyrgyzstan
- Lebanon
- Liberia
- Moldova
- Mongolia
- Montenegro
- Morocco
- Nepal
- Nicaragua
- North Macedonia
- Pakistan
- Russia
- Rwanda
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Saint Lucia
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- Thailand
- Tunisia
- Uganda
- Uruguay
- Uzbekistan
*Full and partial travel ban country as of 14 January 2026 based on Presidential Proclamation 10998 signed by U.S. President Donald Trump on 16 December 2025.
WERC and its immigration public policy forum will continue to monitor developments and will provide updates as they are available.