State Department training places new emphasis on public-charge screening as applicants face interview delays; other stages of immigrant visa processing remain active

WASHINGTON — Immigrant visa applicants worldwide are facing postponed or rescheduled interviews as the State Department conducts additional training for consular officers, creating a new interruption near the end of the process for obtaining permanent residence in the United States.

The department said the training is being conducted at U.S. embassies and consulates worldwide and requires adjustments to visa appointments while officers complete the instruction. Some applicants with scheduled interviews have been told their appointments will be rescheduled. The State Department has not announced when regular scheduling will resume.

The action is not a shutdown of the entire immigrant visa system.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services generally adjudicates the underlying immigrant petition. After approval, many cases move to the State Department’s National Visa Center, where applicants submit fees, the DS-260 immigrant visa application and required documents before an interview is scheduled at a U.S. embassy or consulate.

NVC’s published processing information shows those earlier stages remain active. In its Aug. 24 update, the center said it was creating cases received from USCIS on Aug. 6, reviewing documents submitted July 6 and continuing to respond to applicant inquiries.

The disruption is concentrated at the consular appointment and interview stage. The State Department has not announced that USCIS petition adjudications or NVC case preparation have been suspended.

The State Department says the training is intended to strengthen and standardize visa screening, including determinations of whether an applicant is likely to become dependent on public benefits.

Public-charge inadmissibility is longstanding federal law. Under Section 212(a)(4) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, officers must consider factors including age, health, family status, assets and financial resources, and education and skills. Affidavits of support are also required in many family-sponsored cases.

A public-charge determination is individualized and is not based automatically on a single factor.

On Aug. 5, the State Department announced a separate pilot program allowing consular officers in selected cases to require an immigrant visa applicant found inadmissible on public-charge grounds to apply for a Public Charge Bond through USCIS.

The bond offers certain otherwise eligible applicants another means of overcoming that finding. It is not a general financial requirement for all prospective immigrants.

The global appointment disruption also differs from a State Department policy involving nationals of 75 countries that a federal judge struck down Aug. 21.

Beginning Jan. 21, the department had paused immigrant visa issuance for nationals of those countries while reviewing policies concerning possible reliance on U.S. public benefits. State Department guidance said affected applicants could continue submitting applications and attending interviews even though visas generally would not be issued while the restriction remained in effect.

U.S. District Judge Jeannette A. Vargas in Manhattan vacated the policy, finding that it exceeded the secretary of state’s authority under federal immigration law. The ruling did not eliminate the statutory public-charge provision or prevent individualized public-charge reviews authorized by law.

There is no verified evidence that the new worldwide training was adopted in response to that ruling.

The Philippines was not among the 75 countries covered by the January policy.

Filipino applicants may nonetheless face delays because the State Department describes the consular training as worldwide.

State Department scheduling information updated Aug. 7 showed the U.S. Embassy in Manila scheduling employment-based cases that became documentarily complete in May 2023, family-preference cases completed in September 2025 and immediate-relative cases completed in February 2026.

Those dates reflect completion of NVC documentary requirements, not immigration priority dates.

The State Department has not publicly stated that every immigrant visa interview in Manila has been canceled. Applicants should rely on notices issued for their individual cases.

A separate Department of Homeland Security public-charge rule is scheduled to take effect Sept. 18. It rescinds DHS’s 2022 framework and restores broader discretion to immigration officers in covered applications for admission and adjustment of status.

The rule concerns DHS adjudications and is distinct from State Department visa decisions made by consular officers abroad.