The U.S. Department of State has temporarily paused immigrant visa interviews worldwide while consular officers receive updated training on determining whether applicants are likely to become a “public charge” under U.S. immigration law. A public-charge determination generally involves an individualized review of factors relating to an applicant’s anticipated financial self-sufficiency.
The pause applies to both family-based and employment-based immigrant visas. This includes employer-sponsored health care workers completing the permanent-residence process through a U.S. embassy or consulate. Although anticipated employment and earnings may help demonstrate financial self-sufficiency, employer sponsorship does not exempt an applicant from the interview pause.
This worldwide action is separate from the
75-country immigrant visa policy recently struck down by a federal judge and is not based on nationality. Affected interviews are expected to be rescheduled, but the State Department has not announced when normal scheduling will resume. However, this pause is just for training and should not last longer than a few weeks.
The pause does not apply to nonimmigrant visas, including temporary worker visas such as H-1B, or to tourist and student visas. It also does not affect adjustment-of-status applications handled by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for individuals already in the United States or any other petition.
AHCA/NCAL will continue monitoring this and keep members informed of relevant developments.