The Donald Trump administration on Wednesday decided to indefinitely pause immigrant visa processing for 75 nations, citing the ‘America First’ policy.
The visa processing freeze, which begins from January 21 onwards, targets applicants that the US State Department claims are likely to become a “public charge”—those who depended on government benefits for basic needs.
In that regard, consular officials have been instructed to deny visa applications until screening and vetting procedures are revamped, as per a US State Department memo reviewed by Fox News.
Exceptions to the visa freeze will be “very limited”, as in cases like the applicant clearing public charge considerations, the applicant being a dual national with a valid passport for a country not on the list, or if the applicant is able to prove how their travel would be of national interest to the US.
Spanning nearly one-third of the world’s countries, the full list of the 75 nations facing the visa freeze are as follows:
Afghanistan
Albania
Algeria
Antigua and Barbuda
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Bahamas
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belarus
Belize
Bhutan
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Brazil
Myanmar
Cambodia
Cameroon
Cape Verde
Colombia
Côte d’Ivoire
Cuba
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Dominica
Egypt
Eritrea
Ethiopia
Fiji
The Gambia
Georgia
Ghana
Grenada
Guatemala
Guinea
Haiti
Iran
Iraq
Jamaica
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kosovo
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Laos
Lebanon
Liberia
Libya
North Macedonia
Moldova
Mongolia
Montenegro
Morocco
Nepal
Nicaragua
Nigeria
Pakistan
Republic of the Congo
Russia
Rwanda
St Kitts and Nevis
St Lucia
St Vincent and the Grenadines
Senegal
Sierra Leone
Somalia
South Sudan
Sudan
Syria
Tanzania
Thailand
Togo
Tunisia
Uganda
Uruguay
Uzbekistan
Yemen
