State Department Pauses Immigrant Visas, Plans to Revoke Up to 200,000 B1/B2 Permits
Updated
Updated · The Associated Press · Aug 26
State Department Pauses Immigrant Visas, Plans to Revoke Up to 200,000 B1/B2 Permits
3 articles · Updated · The Associated Press · Aug 26
Summary
Early August brought a State Department halt to immigrant visa processing worldwide while consular staff are briefed on tougher “public charge” rules; interviews set for August are being pushed into September through November.
The pause mainly hits family-based immigrants applying abroad, while employer-sponsored workers are largely exempt because they can show income and are less likely to be deemed dependent on public benefits.
In the coming weeks, the administration is also expected to revoke B1/B2 business and tourism visas issued from 2016 to 2026 for holders who sought or are seeking asylum, in what could become the largest mass visa revocation in U.S. history.
Experts say those revocations would mostly not affect asylum seekers already inside the United States, because their ability to remain rests on pending asylum cases rather than on six-month visitor visas.
The moves extend Trump’s broader legal-immigration crackdown after DHS revived stricter green-card public-charge standards, and they could face court challenges much like a separate 75-country visa halt struck down this month.