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Topics: Donald Trump, Travel, Politics, World News
Stefania Sarrubba
Topics: Donald Trump, Travel, Politics, World News
US president Donald Trump has added more countries to the list of nations banned or partially restricted from applying for US visas, as people are left concerned about the length of this ‘indefinite’ ban.
The severe new visa restrictions will be enacted from 21 January in a bid to prevent those applicants that are likely to become a ‘public charge’ to enter the United States.
This means that, under the president's authority, visa applications from 75 countries will be ‘paused’. Residents of the nations that appear on the list won’t be able to apply for a US visa as their countries are believed to have been 'extracting wealth from the American people', as per a state department statement shared on social media.
A spokesperson for Homeland Security issued an explanation on X, writing: "The State Department will pause immigrant visa processing from 75 countries whose migrants take welfare from the American people at unacceptable rates.
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"The freeze will remain active until the US can ensure that new immigrants will not extract wealth from the American people," it concluded, casting some doubt as to how long it will be before citizens from the banned countries could apply for visas again.
The ban affects countries including Afghanistan, Brazil, Egypt, Iran, Russia, and Somalia.
This seems to be the primary concern for many who are sharing their own experiences with travelling to the US, and the answer is that there is no indication as to when and on what conditions the restrictions will be lifted.
According to Cato Institute, the State Department memo does not state that there will be exceptions to the new policy, other than for temporary (as in non-immigrant) visa applicants.
It's important to note that tourist and business applications won’t be affected under the current ban.
For all other applicants, the policy will continue ‘indefinitely until the department conducts a reassessment of immigrant visa processing’.
Cato also reported that this ban is set to target even close family members of US citizens and legal permanent residents.
“Approximately 100,000 of their spouses and minor children will be barred by this policy, one of the most extreme legal immigration policies in US history,” they wrote.
As the ban is about to enter into effect in a matter of days, concerned applicants have taken to social media to share their experiences as they await a green card.
“I'm an ir1 applicant (spouse of us citizen), interview has been scheduled and i have no idea how things are gonna go. My whole life is on a pause. this was so unexpected,” one person wrote on Reddit.
Meanwhile, others are making predictions about how long the ban will last.
The most popular prediction is three years, as one person wrote: “Until January 20, 2029.”
“Sad, but true. And this is optimistic,” someone else replied as a third person confirmed: “Three years at the minimum.”
“This is not true. This is a PAUSE, not a BAN,” someone else pointed out. “From what I’ve heard and researched it appears that they are trying to adjust the current vetting process and add in some additional public charge requirements and background checks & forms. I’d expect a year max or far less.”
For now, there hasn’t been an official confirmation from the State Department as to how long the visa application pause will be in place.
You can see the full list of countries banned here.