A U.S. Court Has Lifted Restrictions On Immigration Visas For Belarusians

A New York State judge overturned the State Department's decision.

A federal court in New York State ruled that the State Department’s decision to ban the issuance of immigrant visas to citizens of 75 countries was unlawful and overturned it—Belarus was on the list of those countries, according to Reuters.

The State Department’s decision took effect in January 2026 and applied to all 75 countries at once. In addition to Belarus, the list included Russia, Brazil, Colombia, Uruguay, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Pakistan, Bangladesh, as well as many countries in Africa, the Middle East, and the Caribbean.

U.S. authorities explained the restrictions by citing the risk that individuals arriving from these countries could become a so-called “public charge”—that is, rely on resources provided by federal, state, or local U.S. authorities.

In January, the State Department articulated its position in the strongest possible terms: “The suspension will remain in effect until the U.S. can guarantee that new immigrants will not be a burden on the American people.”

However, this specifically referred to immigrant visas. The measure did not impose a blanket ban on the issuance of nonimmigrant visas—such as tourist or business visas.

Federal Judge Janet Vargas concluded that the State Department had exceeded the authority granted to it by U.S. law.

The key issue turned out not to be whether the government could verify the financial status of prospective immigrants, but whether the Secretary of State had the authority to effectively halt the issuance of visas to citizens of several dozen countries at once.

According to the court, the answer is no.

Vargas pointed out that federal immigration law does not grant the Secretary of State such authority over the work of consular officers who review applications for immigrant visas.

“A policy that categorically prohibits the issuance of immigrant visas based on an applicant’s nationality directly violates this statutory framework,” the judge’s ruling states.

Vargas herself called the State Department’s policy “clearly unlawful.”

The restrictions were challenged not only by human rights advocates.

The lawsuit was filed by the Catholic Legal Immigration Network and African Communities Together, applicants for immigrant visas, as well as U.S. citizens who were sponsoring relatives from countries on the list.

In other words, the consequences of the January decision also affected Americans who were awaiting the arrival of their family members.

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