DOS Suspends Some IVP Applications

Today the US Department of State announced that it is suspending immigrant visa processing (IVP) for 75 countries. (IVP is the process where individuals apply for U.S. permanent residence / green card when they are physically outside of the U.S.) The alleged reason for this suspension is over concerns that the applicants from these countries will become dependent on public assistance after they come to the U.S. (i.e. public charge concerns). The DOS is claiming that processing from these countries will be paused while they reassess their procedures to prevent the entry of individuals who will become dependent on public benefits.

This announcement was only done via Twitter, and there has not yet been a published policy memo providing more details on the this suspension including how long this pause will last. This suspension does not appear to impact TN visa workers, i.e. Canadian or Mexican citizens, who may be pursuing a green card through the immigrant visa processing route. Additionally, this announcement does not impact individuals who are applying for non-immigrant or temporary visas such as visitor visas, TN, H-1B, or O-1 visas. However, some of the individuals from the countries on this list may be facing travel bans or restrictions based on previous proclamations.