The United States is indefinitely suspending immigrant visa processing for citizens of 75 nations worldwide.Most of the states in the Caucasus and Central Asia are on the visa-suspension list.
A post on the State Department’s official Twittter (now called X) channel portrayed the decision as needed to develop screening procedures to prevent anyone suspected of having a need or intention to obtain welfare benefits or other forms of public support from entering to the United States.
The government will “pause immigrant visa processing from 75 countries whose migrants take welfare from the American people at unacceptable rates,” the post states. “The freeze will remain active until the U.S.
can ensure that new immigrants will not extract wealth from the American people.” According to US media reports, the three states of the Caucasus, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, along with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan in Central Asia, are among the 75 countries on the visa-suspension list.
The freeze is scheduled to go into effect on January 21.It could not be immediately determined if the processing of all classifications of visas will be put on hold, or just some categories.
Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan were already subject to more stringent US visa restrictions before the latest announcement.Some Kyrgyz officials have raised the possibility of Bishkek reimposing visa requirements for US citizens in retaliation for the US move requiring many Kyrgyz travelers to the United States to post a substantial bond as a guarantee they do not overstay their visits.
On January 12, Kyrgyz Deputy Foreign Minister Meder Abakirov expressed concern about the US bond requirement during a meeting with the US envoy in Bishkek, Lesslie Viguerie. “These measures by the American side do not contribute to the development of contacts between entrepreneurs and hinder the deepening of trade and economic cooperation between the countries,” the Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry said in a statement issued after the meeting.
The visa-processing suspension comes at a sensitive time for the United States in its dealings with countries in both the Caucasus and Central Asia.For example, it sends a mixed signal to Armenia and Azerbaijan as they work to finalize a US-brokered provisional peace agreement.
It could also potentially disrupt development of a trade corridor named after President Trump that is envisioned as the key cog of an emerging trade network connecting the US and European Union to Central Asia.
The visa pause can also be seen as an unforced error impeding US efforts to expand trade relations with Central Asia.The Trump administration in 2025 prioritized widening access to Central Asia’s mineral wealth in its engagement with the region.
The freeze comes just a few weeks before a major US-Central Asian meeting on improving trade and connectivity is scheduled to take place in Kyrgyzstan within the C5+1 framework.