The US Department of States announced over the weekend that the immigrant visa pause that shut out applicants from The Gambia and 74 other countries for over seven months is no longer in effect.
The State Department also confirmed that processing has reverted to normal for nationals of the affected countries.
The announcement followed a federal judge ruling that the policy was unlawful.
The State Department’s public announcement states: As of 21st August, 2026, in accordance with the Court’s order in CLINIC v. Rubio, the January 2026 pause of immigrant visa issuance to nationals of 75 countries is no longer in effect.
The court order reverses a pause the Department of State first announced on 14th January, 2026, and put into effect on 21st January, 2026, covering immigrant visa applicants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Brazil, Cuba, Egypt, Ethiopia, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, Somalia, Syria, Uganda, and dozens of other nations the department had flagged as high risk for public benefits usage.
The pause targeted nationals the department judged likely to become a public charge. But Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s cable to consular posts went further. It told officers to deny visas under Section 221(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act to nearly every applicant from the 75 countries, including those already found eligible and posing no public charge risk at all.
The judgment identified three separate defects. First, the policy violated a 1965 civil rights era provision meant to end nationality-based discrimination in immigration and judge applicants on individual merit instead.
Second, it denied visas without a proper finding of ineligibility, deciding outcomes before any individual review happened.
Third, the court found Rubio had no authority to issue the order at all.