The United States has resumed processing immigrant visa applications from Hungary and Poland, while applicants from dozens of other countries remain affected by a temporary pause. The unusual move reportedly came directly from the White House.
Hungary and Poland given priority
In an unexpected development, the United States has restarted processing immigrant visa applications submitted in Hungary and Poland, even as a wider pause on immigrant visa appointments remains in place elsewhere.
Four people familiar with the matter told Reuters that processing resumed last week. Two of the sources said the White House had specifically instructed US diplomatic missions in Hungary and Poland to prioritise immigrant visa applications from the two countries.
It remains unclear why Washington singled out Hungary and Poland for special treatment. Reuters noted, however, that US President Donald Trump and his senior advisers have cultivated close relationships with right-wing political allies in both countries.
Trump has been a vocal supporter of Viktor Orbán, Hungary’s former prime minister, who lost April’s election. In Poland, meanwhile, Trump has publicly backed nationalist President Karol Nawrocki, whose political relationship with centrist Prime Minister Donald Tusk has been increasingly tense.
Neither the Hungarian nor Polish governments immediately commented on the reported decision.
A major change amid Trump’s immigration crackdown
The development comes against the backdrop of an extensive US crackdown on both illegal and legal migration under Trump’s second administration. While Trump has long made stopping illegal immigration a central political priority, his administration has also introduced measures aimed at reducing legal migration.
Washington has imposed travel restrictions on citizens of dozens of countries, introduced costly new fees for certain work visas and ordered enhanced checks of visa applicants’ social media histories.
In January, the US State Department announced that it was temporarily suspending the processing of immigrant visas in 75 countries, arguing that applicants from those countries were at greater risk of becoming reliant on public assistance.
The measure affected countries across several regions, including Brazil, Colombia and Uruguay in Latin America, Bosnia and Albania in the Balkans, and Pakistan and Bangladesh in South Asia.
Hungary and Poland are now notable exceptions to the broader disruption.
Why did Hungary receive special treatment?
The White House has not publicly explained why immigrant visa processing was restored specifically in Hungary and Poland.
One potentially relevant episode dates back to May, when US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau reportedly instructed senior State Department officials to facilitate a US visa for a fugitive former Polish cabinet minister who had fled to Hungary amid corruption allegations.
The politician was former Polish Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro, who, together with former deputy justice minister Marcin Romanowski, had received political protection from the Hungarian government under Orbán.
Following the change of government in Hungary, however, Prime Minister Péter Magyar signalled that the two men should not expect to remain in the country indefinitely. Polish media subsequently reported that Ziobro had left for the United States with his wife. Ziobro later told a television channel that he intended to remain in America and “enjoy American freedom”.
The episode has added an intriguing backdrop to Washington’s decision to prioritise visa processing in Hungary and Poland, although there is no official confirmation that the cases are connected.
Visa pause follows court ruling
The current disruption to immigrant visa processing has itself followed a legal challenge. A US federal judge, Jeannette A. Vargas, struck down the Trump administration’s January policy on 21 August, calling it “patently unlawful”.
In the aftermath, the State Department instructed US missions around the world to cancel immigrant visa appointments as officials introduced new training on how to assess whether applicants could support themselves financially in the United States without relying on public benefits.
The department said on 25 August that the global pause would remain in place until staff had completed the new training.
Although the government initially said interviews would be rescheduled through 31 August, the disruption could reportedly last for months. The training programme requires US missions to work through materials provided by Washington, followed by visits from consular officers who certify that the training has been completed.
Applicants in several countries have reported cancelled appointments extending into September.
Hundreds of thousands of visas affected
The scale of the policy is significant. US embassies and consulates traditionally conduct hundreds of thousands of immigrant visa interviews every year, many involving relatives of American citizens or permanent residents.
In 2024, the final year of Joe Biden’s presidency, the United States issued approximately 600,000 immigrant visas.
