The United States has officially suspended all immigration applications, including green‑card petitions and naturalization requests, for citizens of 19 non‑European countries, the administration announced on 2 December 2025.
The freeze, imposed by US Citizenship and Immigration Services, applies to immigrant visa applications, adjustment-of-status petitions, and citizenship proceedings for nationals of 19 countries that were previously subject to partial travel bans.
The nations targeted include Afghanistan, Somalia, Iran, Yemen, Libya, Sudan, Haiti, and other countries that had already been included in the previous round of 2025 restrictions.
The decision comes in the wake of a deadly shooting near the White House earlier this week, in which a member of the US National Guard was killed and another wounded; an Afghan man suspected of the attack has been arrested. The administration has cited national security and public safety concerns as the rationale for the sweeping freeze.
According to the new guidance, all pending applications from nationals in the affected countries would have to undergo a ‘thorough re‑review process,’ possibly including fresh interviews or re‑interviews.
Parties already scheduled for naturalization ceremonies or status‑adjustment interviews report cancellations and indefinite postponements.
Critics-legal advocates and immigrant‑rights groups-have denounced the move as collective punishment, warning it unjustly penalizes legal applicants who have already been subject to extensive vetting and puts their immigration prospects in limbo.
The suspension is a major ramping up of the Trump administration's ongoing effort to tighten US immigration policy, which had previously focused on border control and restricting asylum to now targeting legal immigration pathways-including family‑based and employment‑based immigration, as well as naturalization.