U.S. State Department pauses immigrant visas amid broader B-1/B-2 revocation plan
NBC News reported that the U. S. State Department halted processing of all immigrant visa applications worldwide on 27 August, pending the completion of public-charge rule training for consular officers. The agency said the pause would remain in effect until mid-September.
The suspension follows earlier steps in the administration’s immigration crackdown. In early August, the State Department announced a rolling revocation of up to 200,000 B-1 and B-2 visas issued between 2016 and 2026 to individuals who later filed asylum claims, a move described by multiple outlets as affecting hundreds of thousands of visas. Prior to the August 27 suspension, the department had also paused immigrant visa interviews to allow consular staff to complete the same public-charge training, as reported by the Guardian and Fox News.
