US Immigrant Visa Pause and Guatemalans: Vacated Aug 2026, Appeal Pending

Correction, 23 September 2026. An earlier version of this page said the 75-country immigrant visa pause was in force and that there had been no injunction or ruling. That is no longer true. The State Department notice (read in a browser on September 23, 2026) now opens: “As of August 21, 2026, in accordance with the Court’s order in CLINIC et al. v. Rubio, et al., the January 2026 pause of immigrant visa issuance to nationals of 75 countries is no longer in effect.” The government has appealed and has asked for a stay; no stay had been granted as of September 23, 2026, so the pause could be reinstated. The sections below describe the January policy as it was written; the lawsuit section has the current position. For interview logistics now, see immigrant visa interview in Guatemala City.

This page is general information, not legal advice. It reports what the US government published. For your own case, consult a licensed US immigration attorney, and for consular questions, contact your own Guatemalan consulate.

Sourcing of the January wording (checked July 21, 2026). This note covers only the January 2026 notice text quoted on this page; the current status was read in a browser on September 23, 2026 (see the correction above). On July 21, travel.state.gov blocked automated access, so the January wording quoted here was read from Internet Archive captures of the Department’s own pages: July 14, 2026 for the immigrant visa pause notice, and July 9, 2026 for Proclamation 10998. At that time both captures still carried the operative language, with no repeal or expiry text. We did not read either notice live on July 21 — only the litigation status was checked that day. The pause notice has since changed (see the correction above). Open the State Department notice yourself (linked at the bottom of this page) before acting on anything here.

If you are Guatemalan and living in the United States, or you have family waiting in Guatemala, you have probably heard a rumor that Guatemala is under a visa ban (it is not). Three different US policies are being mixed together in that rumor, and only one of them ever applied to Guatemalans. This page separates them and states plainly what the January 2026 pause covered, what it did not, and where it stands now.

Quick summary: The US State Department paused immigrant visa issuance for nationals of 75 countries, including Guatemala, effective January 21, 2026. A federal court vacated that policy, and the State Department says the pause is no longer in effect as of August 21, 2026. The government has appealed (Second Circuit case 26-2573) and asked for a stay; none had been granted as of September 23, 2026, so the pause could come back. Tourist and other nonimmigrant visas were never affected. No immigrant visas were revoked under the January guidance. Guatemala is not on the Proclamation 10998 “travel ban” lists and has no TPS designation.

What the January pause covered — and what it did not

The scope word was issuance. While it was in effect, the January notice paused the act of issuing the immigrant visa; it did not, in its own text, stop anyone from filing or from being interviewed. That pause is not in effect as of August 21, 2026, unless a court grants the government’s stay request.

The three policies people are mixing up

This is where most of the fear comes from. These are three separate things, from two different US agencies:

On the 75-country pause. The State Department stated the reason as a “full review of all screening and vetting policies to ensure that immigrants from high-risk countries do not unlawfully utilize welfare in the United States or become a public charge.” Guatemala is on that list. A federal court has since vacated the policy; see the lawsuit section.

On Proclamation 10998. It was signed December 16, 2025, modifying Proclamation 10949, and took effect January 1, 2026 at 12:01 a.m. EST. The fully suspended list is Afghanistan, Burma, Burkina Faso, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Mali, Niger, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, plus Palestinian Authority travel documents. The partially suspended list is Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, Dominica, Gabon, The Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Togo, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Venezuela, Zambia and Zimbabwe (20 countries: 4 continued from Proclamation 10949 in section 3 and 16 added in section 5, per the Federal Register text, 90 FR 59717). Guatemala appears on neither. (Corrected 25 September 2026: the partial list previously omitted Turkmenistan and gave 19 countries.) The proclamation also carries its own scope limiter: it “only applies to foreign nationals who are outside the United States on the effective date AND do not hold a valid visa on the effective date.” It adds: “No visas issued before January 1, 2026 … have been or will be revoked pursuant to the Proclamation.”

On TPS. Guatemala has no TPS designation at all. TPS news you see about other Central American countries does not change anything for Guatemalans.

Interviews and applications under the January notice

This was the single most misunderstood point, so here is the Department’s own answer, in the January wording of the notice, to “What happens to my immigrant visa interview appointment?” in full:

“Immigrant visa applicants who are nationals of affected countries may submit visa applications and attend interviews, and the Department will continue to schedule visa interviews.”

Under that January wording, applications and interviews continued, but issuance — the final step — was paused, so attending an interview did not mean a visa would be issued at the end of it. The pause itself has not been in effect since August 21, 2026, though a stay could bring it back while the appeal runs. If you have an interview appointment, do not skip it on your own; talk to your attorney about your specific case before missing any appointment.

The exceptions the January notice named

Dual nationals

“Dual nationals applying with a valid passport of a country that is not listed above are exempt from this pause.”

This was one of only two exceptions the notice named (the other covered adoptions), and it applied only if a second nationality already existed, and only if that second country was not itself on the 75-country list (several Latin American and Caribbean countries are on it, so check the list below). It matters again only if the pause is reinstated. If you hold or may be entitled to a second nationality, see our page on US–Guatemalan dual nationality for how dual status works, and take the question of which passport to apply with to a licensed immigration attorney.

Children being adopted by Americans

“Children being adopted by Americans can qualify for an exception, including a National Interest Exception pursuant to Presidential Proclamation 10998, if applicable… They do not need to take other additional steps to be considered for a case-by-case exception under the National Interest Exception.”

Be careful about what that exception did and did not do. It addressed visa issuance for a child already in an adoption process; it did not reopen the Guatemala–US adoption route, which the State Department’s own Guatemala adoption page says is not currently possible. If that is your situation, the closure, its 2007 date and the routes the Consejo Nacional de Adopciones does still run are set out in can Americans adopt from Guatemala.

Visas already issued

“No immigrant visas have been revoked as part of this guidance. For questions regarding admission to the United States, we refer you to DHS.”

Two things follow. First, a visa in your passport was not cancelled by this notice. Second, questions about admission — what happens at the port of entry — are Department of Homeland Security territory, and the State Department explicitly redirects them there.

How long did the pause last?

The notice never carried an end date. It ended by court order instead: the State Department says the pause is no longer in effect as of August 21, 2026. Whether it stays ended depends on the appeal — see the next section.

The lawsuit: the pause was vacated, appeal pending

The case is Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC) v. Rubio, No. 1:26-cv-00858, in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. What the court record shows as of October 7, 2026:

The judgment reads: “This judgment shall set aside and vacate the Policy categorically suspending the issuance of immigrant visas to applicants from the 75 designated countries as contrary to law and in excess of statutory authority.” Update, October 7, 2026: the district court denied the stay on September 25, and no Second Circuit ruling on the government’s September 28 stay motion appears in the docket entries CourtListener shows (checked October 7; the newest Second Circuit entry is dated October 2). In the district court, the September 24 order asks the parties to show cause “why an injunction should not issue requiring the Government to complete its adjudication of remanded petitions by a date certain”; both sides answered on October 5. On October 6 the court set oral argument for October 14, 2026; that order does not say what the argument will cover. No deadline has been ordered yet. If the Second Circuit grants one, the pause could return while the appeal runs. If your relative was refused only because of the pause, the practical next steps are on our immigrant visa interview in Guatemala City page.

When the suit was filed, the following case facts came from the Center for Constitutional Rights, which is a party to the case, in its own published question-and-answer about the lawsuit — an advocacy source, used here only for facts about the case and never for what the policy says:

• It was filed by two organizations plus 11 individuals, and it is not a class action.
• The plaintiffs ask the court to declare the policies unlawful, vacate them, block enforcement, and order the State Department back to individualized, case-by-case adjudication.
• By the plaintiffs’ own description, the case does not cover the Proclamation 10998 list, the diversity visa pause effective December 23, 2025, or suspensions of other visa categories.

Do not make plans on the assumption that the court result is final: an appeal is pending and a stay could restore the pause.

What to do next

1. Read the primary notice yourself, not a summary of it — including this one. The link is at the bottom of this page, and it is the only text that governs.
2. Do not skip appointments on your own. Even while the pause was in effect, the notice said interviews would continue. Confirm your specific case with your attorney before missing anything.
3. Talk to a licensed US immigration attorney — not a “notario” or a non-attorney consultant. Case-specific questions, including anything about which passport to apply with as a dual national, need a licensed professional.
4. Ask your own consulate about consular matters. Find your Guatemalan consulate by US state, or start at the consulate services hub.
5. Keep your Guatemalan documents current while you wait. Practical guides: renew your Guatemalan passport from the USA, apostille US documents for use in Guatemala, and grant a consular power of attorney if you need someone in Guatemala to act for you.
6. Re-check the State Department notice before every decision point. It can change without warning — especially while the stay motion and the appeal are pending.

For the wider US-side picture, MigrantUSA’s immigration policy tracker follows the active US immigration policy changes and court challenges — including the family of proclamations this pause belongs to — in plain language.

One boundary worth stating clearly: this notice is a Department of State action about immigrant visa issuance at US embassies and consulates abroad. If your question concerns a process handled by a different US agency, this page cannot answer it — that is a question for your attorney.

The 75 countries on the State Department list

Useful if your family is mixed-nationality, or if you are checking whether a second passport would qualify for the dual-national exemption:

Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Burma, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominica, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, The Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyz Republic, Laos, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Pakistan, Republic of the Congo, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Yemen.

Primary sources

• US Department of State — Immigrant Visa Processing Updates for Nationalities at High Risk of U.S. Public Benefits Reliance (the 75-country pause, effective January 21, 2026; no longer in effect as of August 21, 2026 per the notice)
• US Department of State — Suspension of Visa Issuance to Foreign Nationals to Protect the Security of the United States (Presidential Proclamation 10998, effective January 1, 2026 — Guatemala not listed)
• USCIS — Temporary Protected Status (list of currently designated countries — Guatemala not designated, checked July 21, 2026)

More for Guatemalans in the United States: diaspora services hub · TPS status for Guatemalans · dual nationality