U.S. Judge Strikes Down Immigrant Visa Ban Covering 75 Nations

Countries affected: United States, South Africa, Brazil, Colombia, Uruguay, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Pakistan and Bangladesh

A U.S. federal judge has invalidated a State Department policy that suspended immigrant visa issuance for nationals from 75 countries. The court ruled that the categorical ban exceeded the statutory authority of the executive branch and violated federal immigration law.

The policy took effect in January 2026 and halted routine immigrant visa processing for applicants from nearly forty percent of the world's nations. Affected regions included parts of Latin America, South Asia, the Balkans, Africa, the Middle East, and the Caribbean.

Under the court order, visa refusals based solely on the policy have been set aside. Consular officers must evaluate immigrant visa applications using standard statutory criteria rather than issuing automatic denials based on an applicant's nationality.