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DOS pauses immigrant visa appointments worldwide following court rulings on nationality-based immigrant visa restrictions
The United States has paused immigrant visa appointments worldwide while consular officers undergo public charge training.
On 26 August 2026, the Department of State (DOS) began implementing a worldwide pause on scheduling immigrant visa appointments. Consular officers who conduct immigrant visa interviews are undergoing training on how to determine if an applicant is likely to become a public charge, per recent policy changes.
This follows two recent federal court decisions concerning a DOS policy that had suspended immigrant visa processing for nationals of 75 countries based on public charge concerns. DOS has not provided a timeline for when normal immigrant visa appointment scheduling will resume.
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