Starting January 21, the Trump administration is pausing immigrant visas for 75 countries, which stops people from getting green cards if they come from ten nations that sell citizenship or from dozens of other places that officials claim are likely to depend on welfare.
State Department officials shared the news on Wednesday that this freeze will last until further notice.
The list covers countries known for “citizenship by investment” programs, including Antigua and Barbuda, Cambodia, Dominica, Egypt, Grenada, Jordan, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Sierra Leone.
This move stands out as the biggest crackdown on legal immigration the U.S. government has enacted in decades. A private memo seen by Reuters tells visa officers to turn down anyone whose visa hasn’t been printed yet, even if it was already cleared. The document claims that citizens from these places are very likely to end up needing financial help and using up government funds at the local, state, or federal level.
Processing will stop while the department carries out what Principal Deputy Spokesperson Tommy Pigott described as a “full review” of their screening steps. Officials haven’t set a deadline for finishing this or explained how countries can get removed from the list.
Long gone are the days when immigrants when through the Ellis Island and had to prove they were healthy, able to work and sustain themselves with no welfare programs in sight. The recent scandals in Minnesota has shown how easily exploitable the system is, and public opinion is no longer so sympathetic to newcomers who might become a burden on the already strained welfare system that was created for natural citizens.
Are all visas in stasis right now?
This news doesn’t mean people from these countries cannot travel at all to the US. The freeze only blocks immigrant visas that offer permanent residency. Trips for tourism, school, and business are still allowed, a point officials are stressing since the United States is hosting the 2026 World Cup and the 2028 Olympics.
According to David Bier, who directs immigration studies at the Cato Institute, about 315,000 legal immigrantswill be rejected over the next year. Applicants from these 75 countries—including families trying to reunite, workers, and diversity lottery winners—are facing delays that could last indefinitely.
Visa dismissal
Since Trump took office again in January 2025, the State Department has taken back over 100,000 visas. They are now using stricter social media checks and broader screening rules for many different types of applicants.
Bier called these actions unheard of. He claimed this government has clearly shown it opposes legal immigration more than any administration in U.S. history. According to him, this policy effectively shuts the door on nearly half of all legal immigrants coming to the United States.
Separately, the European Union warned that selling citizenship could lead to travel bans under their new system, which puts extra pressure on countries that make money from those programs.
Complete list of countries whose citizens will not be granted visas by the US
Here is the list of countries organized by continent:
Africa
- Algeria
- Cameroon
- Cape Verde (Cabo Verde)
- Côte d’Ivoire
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Egypt
- Eritrea
- Ethiopia
- Gambia
- Ghana
- Guinea
- Liberia
- Libya
- Morocco
- Nigeria
- Republic of the Congo
- Rwanda
- Senegal
- Sierra Leone
- Somalia
- South Sudan
- Sudan
- Tanzania
- Togo
- Tunisia
- Uganda
Asia
- Afghanistan
- Armenia
- Azerbaijan
- Bangladesh
- Bhutan
- Burma (Myanmar)
- Cambodia
- Georgia
- Iran
- Iraq
- Jordan
- Kazakhstan
- Kuwait
- Kyrgyzstan
- Laos
- Lebanon
- Mongolia
- Nepal
- Pakistan
- Syria
- Thailand
- Uzbekistan
- Yemen
Europe
- Albania
- Belarus
- Bosnia (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
- Kosovo
- Moldova
- Montenegro
- North Macedonia
- Russia (Transcontinental, politically often grouped with Europe)
North America (includes Central America & The Caribbean)
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Bahamas
- Barbados
- Belize
- Cuba
- Dominica
- Grenada
- Guatemala
- Haiti
- Jamaica
- Nicaragua
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Saint Lucia
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
South America
- Brazil
- Colombia
- Uruguay
Oceania
- Fiji