A U.S. appeals court kept a 75-country immigrant-visa pause vacated but temporarily stayed part of a ruling on earlier refusals, while the government continues reviewing affected applications without a completion date.
The U.S. Department of State estimated in an Oct. 5 sworn declaration that about 43,000 applications carried a notation indicating refusal under the pause. The tally could be too high or too low, department official John Armstrong said.
From Aug. 21 through Sept. 30, officials adjudicated about 706 applications that had been refused while the pause was in force and for which it was at least one ground for refusal. About 318 applicants were approved for visa issuance or had visas issued, while about 388 were refused under the Immigration and Nationality Act. The department did not say how many visas had actually been issued.
The pause, announced Jan. 14 and effective Jan. 21, suspended immigrant-visa issuance to nationals of 75 countries over concerns that applicants might rely on U.S. public benefits. It applied at consulates and did not cover tourist visas.
U.S. District Judge Jeannette A. Vargas ruled Aug. 21 that the blanket suspension exceeded the secretary of state’s authority. Her order vacated refusals based only on that policy and returned those applications for further proceedings; it did not require officers to grant visas.
On Oct. 19, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit declined to suspend the policy’s cancellation. It temporarily stayed the separate portion of Vargas’s order dealing with individual refusals and referred the government’s stay request to a three-judge panel.
The State Department says all immigrant-visa posts have resumed processing affected applications. Some applicants may need updated documents or another interview. NPR reported that attorneys for immigrants accuse the government of deliberately slowing the work; the department says its reviews are continuing.
NPR also reported that U.S. Army veteran Dustin Hoffman, his Colombian wife and their two children were waiting in Argentina for her immigrant visa after the State Department requested more financial evidence.
In an Oct. 23 filing, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said the State Department’s reviews continued despite the appellate stay. It asked the district judge to defer ruling on the plaintiffs’ proposed enforcement order until the appeals panel acts. The plaintiffs asked permission to respond, and the panel has not set a decision date.
