After the United States temporarily halted immigrant visa processing for Pakistan, Bangladesh, and more than 70 other countries on Wednesday, Islamabad said it expects the process to restart soon and described the move as part of an internal policy review by Washington.
The decision forms part of US President Donald Trump’s broader immigration crackdown. The Trump administration said the pause applies to countries whose migrants are believed to rely on welfare benefits in the US at what it called unacceptable levels.
Pakistan responds to visa pause
Reacting to the development, Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said Islamabad remains hopeful that normal immigrant visa processing will resume in the near future. Speaking to news agency PTI, Andrabi said Pakistani authorities are in contact with their US counterparts to gather more clarity on the issue.
He added that Pakistan understands the suspension as part of an ongoing internal review of US immigration policies and systems, and expressed optimism that routine visa services would restart once the review is completed.
US suspends visas for 75 countries
The Trump administration announced that the visa processing pause would apply to 75 countries, including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Russia, Nepal, Afghanistan, Egypt, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Sudan, Thailand, and Yemen, among others.
In a statement shared on X, the administration said the suspension would remain in place until the US is satisfied that new immigrants would not place a financial burden on American taxpayers. Reiterating its long standing stance, the statement said the administration would continue to prioritise an “America First” approach.
The suspension is set to take effect from January 21 and will not impact applications for non immigrant visas, including tourist and business travel.
The US State Department said the decision would affect several countries whose immigrants, it claimed, often become public charges after arriving in the United States. Countries cited in this context included Somalia, Haiti, Iran, and Eritrea.
