The US State Department is halting the processing of all US visa applications worldwide.
As part of an effort to prevent immigrants who would require financial support during their stay from entering the United States, the State Department announced that all US visa applications from around the world will be suspended for the coming period.
A State Department official quoted by Britain’s The Guardian said that the State Department has issued guidelines and is developing special training tools to give consular officials the ability to assess whether an applicant will be able to support themselves financially in the United States and will not require welfare benefits or public assistance from the authorities.
Last Friday, a US district judge ruled that the ban on the entry of immigrants from 75 countries around the world, which President Trump announced several months ago, is unlawful and “constitutes discrimination on the basis of nationality."
At the same time, the Trump administration is reportedly preparing to revoke the business and tourist visas of up to 200,000 foreign nationals who have applied for asylum or are currently seeking asylum in the United States, amid concerns that they will require financial support from the authorities. The move is being undertaken in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security. If the visas are indeed revoked, it would constitute the largest mass revocation of US visas in history.
The move will have to receive court approval, after human rights organizations already announced that they would challenge the Trump administration’s attempt to prevent the entry of family members of immigrants who already reside in the United States.