America Halts Green Cards, Citizenship Requests from 19 Nations

WASHINGTON: The United States has halted all immigration applications from citizens of 19 countries, including requests for green cards and U.S. citizenship.

According to U.S. media reports, the countries affected include Afghanistan, Iran, Libya, Myanmar, Somalia, Sudan, Turkmenistan, Yemen and several others. The New York Times reported that the restriction applies to individuals from nations whose immigration processing had already been paused by the Trump administration in June, preventing them from obtaining status through the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

USCIS has stated that all final decisions—whether approval or rejection—on immigration cases from these countries have been suspended. This includes applications from individuals who were close to receiving U.S. citizenship.

Read more: US stops issuing visas on Afghan passports

The move comes in response to a recent incident in which an Afghan national opened fire near the White House, killing a National Guard member and seriously injuring another. Following the attack, the U.S. government suspended visa issuance for all individuals traveling on Afghan passports and froze decisions on all asylum applications related to Afghan nationals.