Moldova's Ambassador to Unites states says USA to maintain suspension of immigrant visas' issuance till reassessment of public assistance use criteria

The United States of America will maintain the suspension of the issuance of immigrant visas until the process of reassessing the criteria regarding the use of public assistance is completed. On this period, applications for immigrant visas can still be submitted and applicants can be interviewed, but the issuance of these visas is suspended. Ambassador of Moldova to the USA Vladislav Kulminski today made statements to this effect for Radio Moldova.

The official specified that this measure would have a limited impact on citizens of Moldova.

“We must understand that tourist visas, student visas, work visas and business visas will be issued and processed as usual. This makes the impact of the measure on Moldovan citizens limited. Also, the number of immigrant visas issued annually by the U.S. Embassy was relatively small – a few dozen visas,” said Vladislav Kulminski.

The ambassador emphasized that there was no risk that immigrant visas already issued would be cancelled. In addition, people with dual citizenship who apply using a valid passport of a country that is not included in the list are exempt from this suspension.

“Applications for immigrant visas can continue to be submitted, and interviews will take place, but issuance will be suspended until this administrative measure is lifted. For additional information, our citizens can consult the website of the U.S. Embassy in Chisinau, the platform travel.state.gov, as well as the official communication channels of Moldova’s Foreign Affairs Ministry,” said Vladislav Kulminski.

The United States has suspended the issuance of immigrant visas for citizens of more countries, including Moldova, starting January 21, this year. The measure is administrative in nature and is part of a process to reassess the criteria related to the use of public assistance (“public charge”) and does not represent a general travel or entry ban to the USA.

Immigrant visas are official documents that allow a person to settle permanently in the United States of America. They are different from non-immigrant visas, which are issued for temporary stays such as tourism, studies or work for a fixed period.