This Week’s Visa Gauntlet:   75 Ways the Trump Administration is Restricting Legal Immigration

By:  Richard Hanus, Esq.

January 16, 2026

According to the Trump administration, foreign nationals from 75 nations who are looking to live in the U.S. are presumed to be on a path toward U.S. welfare dependence.  Whether this is true or not, the U.S. Department of State has directed, starting January 21, 2026, to halt all overseas immigrant visa (Green Card) processing for citizens of impacted nations at U.S. consular posts across the globe.     Individuals from the following nations are subject to this new policy:

Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Bhutan, Bosnia, Brazil, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cuba, Dominica, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, The Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, North Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Republic of the Congo, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Uruguay, Uzbekistan and Yemen.

This newly announced measure represents yet another policy directive where this administration is attempting to narrow legal immigration avenues.   According to U.S. officials, intending immigrants from the affected countries “take welfare from the American people at unacceptable rates…..and the freeze will remain active until the U.S. can ensure that new immigrants will not extract wealth from the American people”

Interestingly, though, we already have substantial laws on the books that serve to screen applicants who are likely to become “public charges”.  These laws include a vigorous pre-immigrant visa issuance review process where U.S. sponsors/guarantors contractually commit via an Affidavit of Support (including the submission of substantial tax and financial documentation) to reimburse our government in case of immigrant welfare dependence.   In case of a sponsored immigrant becomes dependent on public benefits, we already have in place a legal remedy where  our government can file a lawsuit against the Affidavit of Support sponsor to enforce their contractual commitment.

Which processes and foreign nationals are NOT impacted?  This past week’s visa pause –

1. does NOT impact dual nationals who undergo immigrant visa process with a passport from a nation not subject to the above pause,
2. does NOT impact I-485 applicants for Adjustment of Status, i.e. applicants for permanent residence present in the U.S. and undergoing all resident processing here,
3. does NOT impact nonimmigrant visa processing, e.g. B-2 visitor, F-1 student, H-1B worker, etc.  – although 23 of these countries are also separately covered by previous travel ban directly, impacting nonimmigrant visa applicants from: Afghanistan, Antigua and Barbuda, Burma, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, Dominica, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, The Gambia, Laos, Libya, Nigeria, Republic of the Congo, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Togo, or Yemen

Furthermore, U.S. consular posts will continue to conduct immigrant visa appointments for impacted applicants, but visa processing will be held in abeyance until the reversal of this new policy.  Finally, just like in the aftermath of other recent broad, restrictive executive branch visa policies, we can expect a slew of federal lawsuits to be filed that will seek to block implementation of these measures and declare them unconstitutional.