The United States administration under President Donald Trump has halted all immigrant visa applications. This has now seen the administration through the Department of States pause all processing for immigrant visas that allow applicants to permanently move to the United States.
According to a report that appeared on the Wall Street Journal, the pause has been issued to allow space to train visa officers on new guidance ensuring that applicants have enough financial means to support themselves after they arrive in the United States.
According to the report, immigrant visa applicants who had scheduled interview appointments at US embassies and consulates have already been notified by email that their interviews have been postponed. These applicants have however not been informed as to when their interviews shall take place.
Many applicants have been left wondering what implications this pause on visa processing will have. According to Brad Bernstein, a US immigration lawyer and the managing partner at Law Offices of Spar & Bernstein, the risk in the pause is that it might translate into policy.
“The immigrant visa applications processing pause is for every country in the world from A to Z. The most risky word in this is the term ‘pause’ which we have seen become policy when it comes to immigration and the current administration,” says Bernstein.
“The State Department claims that it needs to retrain consular officers on public charge meeting and many applicants are already being told that their scheduled interviews are being canceled or postponed. There’s no date for when regular interviews will resume.”
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Mr Bernstein however explains that the new pause does not mean that all types of visas are no longer being processed. “This is not a shutdown of every visa. Tourist visas, student visas, temporary work visas are all still being processed. Adjustment of status are also still being processed. This new pause concerns getting a green card at a US embassy or consulate abroad to enter the US as a permanent resident,” says Bernstein.
These green card immigrant visas include family-based categories, employment-based categories, and investment-based categories; spouses, parents, children, workers, and investors. Explaining how immigration pauses are becoming policy, Mr Bernstein gave the example of the Diversity Visa Program which is popularly known as the ‘Green Card’ lottery.
“The Diversity visa program was called a pause. More than eight months later, the government notice still says visa’s on pause. Diversity visa winners now face a 2026 deadline and that’s going to pass and their opportunity will be lost. And that’s how temporary pauses become government policy, without the administration ever admitting that t canceled everything” he explained.
The lawyer went on to explain that immigration has become a cat and mouse game between the current US administration and federal judges, where the administration is constantly seeking new ways to go around rulings that lift its immigration blockades. “We are witnessing the same with H-1B work visas. A federal judge struck down Trump’s $100,000 H-1B payment as an unauthorized tax. The administration has now returned several weeks later with a proposed $103,265 filing fee for the same visa category,” says Bernstein.
According to Bernstein, those with immigrant visa applications should however not lose all hope. “At some point, a judge is going to rule that this pause is a de facto ban on legal immigration. If you have an interview scheduled, don’t skip it unless you receive written instructions from the embassy or consulate offices. Check your email, spam, EAC account, and the embassy’s website,” he says.
“Keep your sponsorship, tax, employment and financial evidence up to date. If you have a child aging out or have expiring documents, speak with a qualified and experienced US immigration lawyer immediately.”
