Philippines spared from US suspension of immigrant visas

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January 15, 2026 | 12:16pm

MANILA, Philippines — The United States will suspend immigrant visa processing for citizens of 75 countries starting next week, but the Philippines is not among those affected.

The US State Department has announced it will halt immigrant visa applications from 75 countries, including Afghanistan, Iran, Russia and Somalia starting January 21, building on earlier immigration and travel bans affecting nearly 40 countries under Trump's second presidency. 

But "Filipinos [are] not included," Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez told Philstar.com in a message on Thursday, January 15.

The US State Department's spokesperson announced the freeze in a statement today, claiming migrants from the targeted countries "take welfare from the American people at unacceptable rates." 

The suspension applies only to immigrant visas for permanent residency, not tourist or business visas.

The pause will be in place "until the US can ensure that new immigrants will not extract wealth from the American people," the State Department said in an X post.

The State Department first disclosed the policy through an internal memo obtained by Fox News before confirming it publicly on Wednesday, January 14. The directive instructs consular officers to halt immigrant visa applications while reassessing screening procedures under the "public charge" provision of immigration law.

A separate directive sent to all US embassies and consulates instructed officers to screen even non-immigrant visa applicants for the possibility they might supposedly seek public benefits in the US, according to reports.

The Philippines has historically been among the top sources of immigrants to the United States. For this reason, Filipino Americans represent one of the largest Asian American communities in the country. 

There are at least over 4 million Filipino Americans in the US with estimates around 4.1 to 4.6 million in recent years, making them the third-largest Asian American group, predominantly concentrated in California, Hawaii, and Texas

Though the Philippines was not included in the visa suspension, Filipinos have not been entirely spared from Trump's immigration crackdown.

In May last year, a group of teachers from the Philippines was raided by armed ICE agents in Maui. According to reports, the teachers and their families were rousted from their beds at gunpoint by ICE agents serving a search warrant for a convicted felon who was not there. 

The Filipino teachers were on a five-year exchange program with the Hawaii Department of Education to help address the state's teacher shortage.