Among them is Iraq: The United States suspends visa issuance for 75 countries
Among them is Iraq: The United States suspends visa issuance for 75 countries
2026-01-14 06:42
Shafaq News – Washington
The US State Department announced on Wednesday that it has suspended issuing visas to citizens of 75 countries, confirming that Iraq is among these countries.
American media outlets quoted the US State Department as saying that it had suspended issuing visas to citizens of 75 countries, including Iran, Yemen, Egypt, Somalia, and Iraq.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced earlier last month that President Donald Trump’s administration plans to expand the list of countries subject to the travel ban from 19 to more than 30, in a move that comes as part of the administration’s overall campaign against immigrants.
The announcement came two days after the Trump administration suspended immigration applications for citizens of 19 countries, including Afghanistan, Yemen, Haiti, Venezuela, Sudan and Somalia, and suspended the granting of permanent residency (green cards) and citizenship to them.
In a related move, the administration decided to reduce the validity period of work permits for refugees, asylum seekers and other migrants from five years to 18 months.
The director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Joseph Edlow, indicated that the decision came after an Afghan man attacked two National Guard members in Washington, D.C., on November 26. The man had entered the United States under a resettlement program following the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
The decision affects refugees, asylum seekers, and those with pending asylum applications, status adjustments, or deportation cancellations, while Trump is campaigning on the basis of deporting millions of undocumented immigrants, asserting his intention to “permanently stop immigration from all Third World countries.”
shafaq.com
