The Trump administration has issued orders to halt the processing of U.S. visas for all Afghan nationals, effectively freezing the pathway for Afghans — including those who assisted American forces during the two-decade war — to enter the United States. The directive was communicated through a State Department cable sent on Friday to every U.S. diplomatic post worldwide, instructing consular officers to reject both immigrant and non-immigrant visa applications from Afghan citizens, including Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) applicants.
The suspension comes days after a former member of a CIA-backed Afghan military unit was accused of shooting two U.S. National Guard soldiers in Washington, D.C., one of whom later died. In a post on X, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that visa issuance for all individuals travelling on Afghan passports would be “paused.”
According to the cable — first reported by The New York Times and later confirmed by Reuters — the stated objective of the freeze is to “ensure the applicant’s identity and eligibility for a visa under U.S. law.” However, advocacy groups assisting Afghan allies argue the move is part of a wider strategy to completely shut out Afghans from entering the country. Shawn VanDiver, president of Afghan Evac, said the directive aligns with what the administration “has been driving toward for months.”
Even though visa appointments already scheduled will not be cancelled, consular officers have been directed to refuse visas when applicants arrive. Visas that have been approved but not yet printed are to be reversed, while printed visas must be destroyed and the applicants marked as rejected in the system. Earlier in the week, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services had already stopped processing Afghan immigration requests indefinitely.
Since taking office in January, Trump has escalated immigration crackdowns — deploying federal agents to major cities, tightening asylum policies at the southern border and signalling new restrictions on legal immigration. The blanket freeze on Afghan visas marks the most sweeping action yet targeting a single nationality since the recent shooting incident and signals deeper barriers ahead for Afghans seeking entry to the United States.
