Are US Visa Applications Suspended? Separating Fact From Rumor

Claims that “US visa applications have been suspended” resurface online every few months, for one nationality or another — and for most travelers, they’re not accurate. What’s actually true is more specific: the US does maintain real, current suspensions, but they apply to a defined, checkable list of countries. This guide walks through exactly what’s restricted, how to check whether your own nationality is on the list, where the rumor comes from, and the current, occasionally confusing status of a separate new fee — using Turkey, which isn’t affected by any current suspension, as a worked example throughout.

Key Facts

• Who this applies to: anyone — whether you’re affected depends entirely on your nationality, so check the full lists below
• Turkey’s status (example): not on any current US visa suspension list — applications continue normally
• Presidential Proclamation 10998: effective January 1, 2026 — full suspension for 19 countries and entities, partial suspension for 19 more; Turkey isn’t among them
• Separate 75-country pause: effective January 21, 2026 — immigrant (Green Card) visas only, on public-charge grounds; doesn’t reach B1/B2 or other nonimmigrant visas, and Turkey isn’t among the 75 either
• $250 Visa Integrity Fee: authorized by 2025 legislation, but collection status is still unclear — it doesn’t yet appear on the State Department’s official fee schedule; see our full fee breakdown for the current status
• Standard visa fee: still $185 (MRV) for a standard B1/B2 case, unchanged, for any nationality

Is Your Nationality Actually Affected?

Whether a current suspension applies to you depends entirely on your nationality — check the full and partial suspension lists further down, and the separate 75-country list, against your own citizenship. Neither current geopolitical events in general nor seasonal appointment demand pauses processing on their own; the restrictions the US government has actually put in place apply only to the specific, named countries covered below.

Turkey, as an example: Turkish citizens can apply for a B1/B2, student, or other nonimmigrant US visa exactly as before — Turkey isn’t on any current list.

Where This Rumor Actually Comes From

Appointment Backlogs Get Mistaken for a Shutdown

The most common trigger is timing, not policy, and it can happen at any busy consulate worldwide. During high-demand periods — often spring and summer — appointment availability can stretch out to many months or more. When that happens, it’s easy for “the earliest slot is next year” to get reported online as “applications are closed,” even though the two are unrelated. At the Istanbul and Ankara consulates specifically, this is the single most common source of the rumor for Turkish applicants.

A Real 2017 Precedent for Turkey Still Echoes Today

The concern isn’t entirely baseless history, at least for some nationalities. Turkey is a real example: in 2017, the US and Turkey briefly and mutually suspended non-immigrant visa processing amid a diplomatic dispute — normal operations resumed within a few weeks. That episode is real, and it’s likely part of why suspension rumors keep resurfacing years later for Turkish applicants specifically, even though nothing similar is currently underway.

Presidential Proclamation 10998: What It Actually Restricts

Presidential Proclamation 10998 took effect January 1, 2026, and is the real, current restriction most rumors are actually referring to, second-hand.

Full Suspension List

All immigrant and nonimmigrant visa issuance is currently suspended for nationals of: Afghanistan, Burma (Myanmar), Burkina Faso, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Mali, Niger, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen, along with Palestinian Authority travel documents.

Partial Suspension List

B1/B2 (tourist/business), F, M, and J (student and exchange) visas, along with all immigrant visas, are suspended for nationals of: Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Burundi, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Dominica, Gabon, The Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Togo, Tonga, Venezuela, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Check Your Own Nationality Against These Lists

If your nationality doesn’t appear on either list above, or any amendment to Proclamation 10998 issued since it took effect, this restriction simply doesn’t apply to you. Turkey, for example, does not appear on the full suspension list, the partial suspension list, or any amendment issued since — if you hold Turkish citizenship, including dual citizenship alongside a country that does appear above, this restriction doesn’t apply to your Turkish passport application.

The Separate 75-Country Immigrant Visa Pause

A different, unrelated action paused immigrant visa processing — the Green Card path, not short-term travel visas — for nationals of 75 countries starting January 21, 2026, citing public-charge concerns about reliance on US social welfare programs. This pause doesn’t touch nonimmigrant visas like B1/B2, student, or exchange visas at all, for any country it applies to. Turkey is not among the 75 countries either way.

What About the $250 “Visa Integrity Fee”?

This is the detail most worth correcting, for any nationality. A $250 Visa Integrity Fee was authorized by 2025 federal legislation, with a statutory reference date of October 2025 — but as our dedicated fee breakdown covers in more depth, it does not currently appear on the State Department’s official published fee schedule, and DHS has not published the implementation guidance needed to actually begin collecting it consistently. Whatever its eventual rollout looks like, no official government source describes a nationality-based exemption — scattered reports claiming certain nationalities are exempt, Turkish citizens included, aren’t backed by an official source.

What’s genuinely still unsettled is whether it’s being collected at all: some secondary reports describe uneven collection already starting at a handful of consulates, but this isn’t confirmed by an official government source, and the refund mechanism for compliant visa holders is still being finalized. Rather than assuming either way, the safer approach is to confirm directly — with your consulate, or at your interview — what you’ll actually be asked to pay. The standard $185 MRV fee itself hasn’t changed.

How to Check the Current Status Yourself

Given how quickly this kind of policy can shift, the most reliable approach is to check an official source directly rather than a social media post: travel.state.gov publishes the current Proclamation 10998 list, and the US Embassy Ankara and Consulate Istanbul sites post any actual service disruptions. If a claim about suspended applications doesn’t trace back to one of these, treat it with caution.

Get Support With Your US Visa Application

If you’d like clarity on your own situation — or support managing your application from the DS-160 through the interview — reach out to us and we’ll walk you through exactly where things stand.