US Visa: Trump Administration Freezes Immigrant Processing for Ghana, Other Countries From Jan 21
- The Trump administration has indefinitely paused immigrant visa processing from 75 countries, including Ghana
- The US State Department said the administration wants to end the apparent abuse of its welfare and public benefits
- US President Donald Trump has sought to limit both illegal and legal immigration into the country in his latest term
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, which read:
"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 US 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.
His 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 after a shooting at Brown University, in which two people were killed.
The suspect, who was identified as 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 an American green card.
The BBC reported that US Homeland Security had announced the pause to ensure that no more Americans are harmed by 'a disastrous programme'.
US places travel ban on Burkina Faso
YEN.com.gh reported that Trump had expanded travel bans, barring nationals of five additional countries, including Ghana’s neighbour, Burkina Faso, from January 1, 2026.
Washington said the restrictions were intended to protect the security of the US, with restrictions placed on nationals from countries including Mali, Niger, and South Sudan.
Proofreading by Bruce Douglas, copy editor at YEN.com.gh.
Source: YEN.com.gh
