US Visa: Trump Administration Freezes Immigrant Processing for Ghana, Other Countries From Jan 21
· YEN.com.gh News · Join- The Trump administration is placing an indefinite pause on immigrant visa processing from 75 countries, including Ghana
- The US State Department said the administration wants to end the abuse of its welfare and public benefits
- US President Donald Trump has sought to limit both illegal and legal immigration into the US since returning to office
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The US government has announced an indefinite freeze on immigrant visa processing for Ghana and 74 other countries.
This is part of a broader effort to tighten immigration controls and prevent applicants deemed likely to become a public charge from entering the country.
Source: Getty Images
The US Department of state annouced the pause in a statement on X.
It said:
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The State Department will pause immigrant visa processing from 75 countries whose migrants take welfare from the American people at unacceptable rates. The freeze will remain active until the U.S. can ensure that new immigrants will not extract wealth from the American people.
Aside from Ghana, the move affects a wide range of countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America, including Nigeria, Somalia, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Brazil, Russia, Thailand and Yemen.
The policy is anchored in the enforcement of the so-called “public charge” provision of US immigration law, which allows authorities to deny visas to applicants considered likely to depend on government welfare or public benefits.
In November 2025, the State Department issued a global cable instructing consular officers to apply stricter screening rules under this provision.
Trump's crackdown on immigration to the US
The Trump administration has taken a hard stance on immigration, especially from the developing world. At one point, Ghana was in line for a travel ban.
Trump said he plans to permanently pause migration to America from Ghana and all other third-world countries.
The US president wrote in a Truth Social post that the decision would allow the US system to fully recover from past immigration policies.
Source: Getty Images
He maintains that these policies have eroded the gains and living conditions of many Americans.
Trump, however, did not provide details of his plan or name the countries that might be affected.
Trump's comments came after an Afghan national was accused of shooting two members of the National Guard in Washington DC.
Trump suspends American visa lottery shooting
In December 2025, Trump suspended the US green card lottery scheme following the mass shooting at Brown University, in which two people were killed.
The suspect, 48-year-old Claudio Neves Valente, was a Portuguese man who was found dead on December 18.
He entered the country through the diversity lottery immigrant visa programme (DV1) in 2017 and was granted a green card.
BBC reported that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced the pause to ensure that no more Americans are harmed by what she called a disastrous programme.
US places full travel ban on Burkina Faso
YEN.com.gh reported that Trump expanded some travel bans, barring nationals of five additional countries, including Ghana’s neighbour, Burkina Faso, from January 1.
Washington has said the restrictions are intended to protect the security of the US.
Full-entry restrictions are also being placed on nationals of Mali, Niger, South Sudan, and Syria, as well as Palestinian Authority passport holders.
Source: YEN.com.gh