The U.S. Department of State has paused immigrant visa interviews at embassies and consulates worldwide. The pause is being used to give consular officers additional training, particularly on the public charge ground of inadmissibility and financial self-sufficiency.
No end date has been announced.
Who is affected
Anyone applying for permanent residence through a U.S. consulate: spouses, parents and children of U.S. citizens, family preference applicants, and employment-based immigrants. Applicants with interviews already scheduled have been receiving cancellation emails with a promise to reschedule later.
What it does not appear to stop
This is a consular pause. It does not appear to stop USCIS from processing I-130 petitions, or from deciding eligible I-485 adjustment of status applications filed inside the United States.
That distinction is worth understanding, because for some families it changes which route makes sense. A spouse already in the United States who is eligible to adjust here is in a different position from one waiting on an interview abroad. Eligibility to adjust is narrow and fact-specific, so this is a question to ask rather than assume.
If your interview was cancelled
Do not cancel anything yourself, and do not treat the cancellation as a denial. A delayed interview is not a refusal, and your case keeps its place.
Follow the instructions in the notice you received from the National Visa Center or the embassy. Keep your contact details current with the NVC, since the rescheduling notice will go to the address they hold.
Keep your civil documents and your affidavit of support current. Some documents expire, and a long pause can mean refreshing them before the rescheduled interview.
On the public charge point
Since the stated purpose of the pause is public charge training, expect closer attention to the financial side of the case when interviews resume: the sponsor's income, the sufficiency of the affidavit of support, and any joint sponsor. That is worth strengthening now rather than at the counter.
We are monitoring this closely. If your interview was cancelled, or you want to know whether a different route is open to your family while the pause lasts, contact our office.