Overview
- Consular posts will keep accepting applications and holding interviews but will not print or issue family- or employment-based immigrant visas for affected nationals beginning January 21.
- The State Department frames the suspension as part of a reassessment of the statutory public charge inadmissibility standard.
- Tourist, student, and temporary work categories such as H-1B, L-1, O-1, and E visas are not included in the policy.
- Dual nationals applying with a passport from a country not on the list are exempt, and limited national-interest exemptions remain available.
- Employers and applicants should expect open-ended delays with no stated end date, and some already approved cases may not be released from consular sections, according to legal guidance.