Following a security review, the US suspends all visa and green card applications from 19 nations.
All immigration cases from 19 nations, including those for citizenship and green cards, are no longer processed by the US. Thousands of families are left in the dark about when the halt will end as the government claims it is reevaluating applications to look for national security threats.
All immigration applications from 19 nations have been halted by the United States. An internal guidance from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) urges officers to pause all final judgments on these cases.
This stop impacts all forms of applications, including green cards, visas, and citizenship ceremonies for long-time permanent residents who were just days away from becoming U.S. citizens.
The move came after two National Guard men were shot in Washington, D.C., and the suspect was an asylum-seeking Afghan evacuee. After the attack, the government ordered a complete security evaluation of immigration applicants from selected nations.
Which 19 Nations Are Impacted?
These countries' immigration cases are now on hold:
Afghanistan, Myanmar, and Chad
Congo's Republic
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Haiti
Iran
Libya
Somalia
Yemen and Sudan
Burundi
Cuba
Laos
Sierra Leone
Togo
Turkmenistan
Venezuela
Why Does the United States Do This?
Officials said the stoppage is intended to:
Examine previous immigration approvals from these 19 nations.
Verify candidates again for threats to public safety and national security.
Ensure that no immigration benefit is given to anyone who may have ties to terrorism or criminal activity.
During the re-review, some applicants who were previously accepted would have to go through further interviews.
Who Is Currently Affected?
Individuals with pending immigration proceedings who currently reside in the United States
Awaiting citizenship as permanent residents
Applications from foreign immigrants
Regardless of when they came, everybody from the 19 nations who submitted an
immigration form
The end date of the pause is not specified. Only until a fresh memo is released by immigration authorities will it be lifted.
What Might Take Place Next?
According to sources, the administration may expand the list of countries subject to travel and immigration restrictions to roughly 30. Immigration attorneys have already reported delayed cases and canceled ceremonies, characterizing the latest hold as "unprecedented" in scale.
Immigration attorneys claim that while minor delays have occurred in the past, they have never been this extensive or impacted so many different kinds of petitions. Uncertainty now plagues many families, particularly those who were on the verge of becoming citizens.
