Reporting revealed State Department had paused immigrant-visa interviews worldwide since early August

On August 25, 2026, reporting revealed that the State Department had paused immigrant-visa interview appointments at U.S. embassies and consulates worldwide, notifying applicants by email that their scheduled interviews had been canceled and that they would receive a new date later. A State Department official said the department "launched a global training initiative at all of our embassies and consulates worldwide" in early August 2026, and that the pause was needed "to accommodate this in-depth training" so consular officers could evaluate every applicant for the likelihood they would become a "public charge" — reliant on U.S. government assistance — "comprehensively and consistently." The Financial Times reported the practical effect was to screen out applicants "deemed likely to need U.S. assistance," the same substantive criterion the department had used months earlier to suspend immigrant-visa processing for citizens of 75 countries.

The pause came days after a federal judge struck down that 75-country suspension, ruling it exceeded Secretary of State Marco Rubio's statutory authority; a National Immigration Law Center attorney said the ruling made clear "immigration laws cannot be used to justify discrimination." The State Department did not say when paused interviews would be rescheduled. Immigration attorneys said applicants had already spent money and disrupted their lives to attend appointments that were canceled without a replacement date, and it remained unclear how long the worldwide pause would last.