US suspends visa processing

Those persons hoping to get a visa for travel to the United States must now put their plans on hold for the time being.

The Trump administration has announced an immediate global suspension of issuing new visas. It’s not clear how long this stoppage will last, but this is happening at a time when a tough visa and immigration clampdown continues to be a top policy of the US government.

Widely circulating mainstream news media reports refer to a State Department spokesperson saying that a global training initiative at all US embassies and consulates worldwide is the reason for the suspension and that appointments for visa services will be adjusted to accommodate the training.

It’s also been reported that visa applicants with interviews already scheduled have been sent emails advising them that their appointments had been cancelled and that they would be informed of a new date and time.

Earlier this month, the US State Department announced that it had revoked more than 175,000 visas from foreign nationals who it said “violated the terms of their visas, committed crimes, called for violence against US citizens, defrauded Americans, abused our immigration system, or endangered national security.”

It also said that the majority of these visas were revoked due to law enforcement encounters involving a range of criminal activities, with assault, driving under the influence, theft, and drug crimes being the leading causes. “A significant share of visas were revoked for reckless driving, sexual assault, child abuse, fraud and embezzlement, and other crimes,” it stated.

The State Department also said that the revocations come as a result of its continuous vetting operations, “which ensure that visa recipients abide by the terms of their visas and do not endanger Americans.”

There have been legal challenges to the visa clampdown by the Trump administration. In a recent court ruling, a federal judge overturned a US immigration policy that suspended the processing of immigration visas from 75 countries, including several in the Caribbean.

The original list published in January included Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Cuba, Dominica, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, and St Vincent and the Grenadines.

The US government had said then that nationals of those countries were deemed likely to require public assistance in the United States.

But according to the ruling by US District Judge Jeannette Vargas, that policy was “contrary to law and in excess of statutory authority.” Setting it aside, she concluded that Secretary of State Marco Rubio exceeded his authority by issuing it.

However, while the lawyers who led the challenge to the policy were hopeful that the ruling would allow their clients to proceed with their visa applications, the new suspension of issuing visas announced by the State Department now puts their plans into a state of administrative limbo.