Visa applications for permanent US residency from 75 countries across the globe are set to be suspended on January 21, following an announcement by the Donald Trump administration on Wednesday.
Among those affected are nations in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and Europe. These include Brazil, Pakistan, Nigeria, Thailand, Albania, Russia, Uruguay and Egypt.
The framing from the Trump administration is that this is all about easing what it considers a welfare burden on the US from immigrants.
“President Trump has made clear that immigrants must be financially self-sufficient and not be a financial burden to Americans,” read a statement from the US Department of State, which went on to assert that the policy is designed to ensure that “immigrants from these high-risk countries do not utilize welfare in the United States or become a public charge.”
The suspension is related to processing visa applications from people native to the relevant countries who want to live permanently in the USA. Technically, applications can still be made and interviews and appointments can still be scheduled, but they will not progress to the point where visas are issued.
Current visas granted to nationals of the affected countries will remain valid. The State Department, or DOS, says the only exception to the suspension comes for “dual nationals applying with a valid passport of a country that is not listed.”
The length of the suspension is unknown and there are fears it may be indefinite.
The US government argues that doing so will mean a lower welfare bill for Americans because immigrants “extract wealth from the American people,” according to another DOS statement.
In fact, the US already has rules which it can use to bar immigrants who could become reliant on the state if they move to America. This rule has to do with the “public charge” ground, or reason, for inadmissibility. Whether a migrant could potentially be denied entry based on the “public charge” rule is assessed on a case-by-case basis by immigration officers. But there are a limited number of reasons for the “public charge” rule to come into effect and prevent immigration.
“Many programs do not raise public charge concerns, including health care programs like Medicaid and Covid-19 care, housing, nutrition programs and many other vital services,” the US-based Immigrant Legal Resource Center says. “Only applicants deemed likely to become primarily dependent on cash aid for income maintenance or long-term care at government expense could be denied for public charge,” the organization explains.
During Trump’s first term, his administration tried to expand the scope of that rule to include more factors and programs, but his proposed changes were overturned by Joe Biden’s administration in 2022.
So for now the 2022 rule still applies. But last November, the US’ Department of Homeland Security, or DHS, again proposed changes and will likely suspend the 2022 rules on “public charge” by late January. In their argument for making those changes, the DHS said that the 2022 rules restricted immigration
officers too much in assessing whether a migrant would become a burden on the state, because officers were only allowed to judge this based on limited factors.
The first year of Trump’s second term in office has seen a heavy focus on restricting immigration. In June, a full travel ban was imposed on 12 countries. This was then extended, most recently in December, to 39 countries with full or partial travel bans. Most of these are in Africa with some in Latin America and Asia. The White House cited a lack of reliable records, concerns about overstaying and the need the “enforce our immigration laws” when announcing the extension.
Trump’s administration has also set the lowest refugee admissions cap in US history: just 7,500 refugees for 2026, compared to the 125,000 cap set by Trump’s predecessor, Biden. The current government has also attempted to limit skilled migration by raising fees for H-1B visas — used by US companies to hire foreign workers for a set period of time — to a minimum of $100,000.
The use of a rapidly rising number of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, agents has also been key in driving the drop in immigration. The DHS, under which ICE operates, says it deported 605,000 people in 2025, while another 1.9 million people left on their own accord.
Even travelers from countries not on any of the various restricted lists may face checks on their social media activity should a US government proposal made in December come to pass. The checks may soon apply to citizens of 42 countries who have traditionally been able to apply for visa-free travel to the US. These include Australia, France, Germany, Japan and the UK. While not directly related to immigration, it is further evidence of the extent to which the US is becoming hostile to foreigners.
The latest suspension will not directly impact any fans attempting to visit for the football World Cup, which will mostly be held in the US in June and July. Nor will it affect any holidaymakers or anyone looking for a short stay on a tourist visa.
However, football fans will not be able to travel from Haiti and Iran to cheer on their team. Those countries, who have qualified for the tournament, are on the travel ban list while those from fellow qualifiers, Senegal and Ivory Coast, face significant restrictions as a result of their partial travel ban.
