The United States (US) has announced plans to revoke the non-immigrant visas of foreign nationals who file for asylum after entering the country on short-term visas.
According to Internal State Department documents and US officials, up to 200,000 business and tourism visa holders could be affected.
This marks the latest escalation in a sweeping immigration policy shift targeting both undocumented and legal entry.
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The update was confirmed by a spokesperson by the State Department spokesperson who confirmed that federal authorities are coordinating with the Department of Homeland Security to identify and invalidate the visitor credentials of individuals who enter on short-term travel authorization but subsequently submit asylum claims to secure permanent residency.
If executed at this scale, the policy would represent the largest mass revocation of US visas in history.
The target parameters focus specifically on B1 and B2 non-immigrant visas issued between 2016 and 2026 to individuals who have applied for or are currently awaiting decisions on asylum claims. Officials noted that an immediate revocation would not trigger automatic deportation.
Applicants with pending claims would primarily undergo status recategorization, stripping them of their formal standing as accredited business or tourism visitors while their legal proceedings run their course.
The policy shift aligns with broader administration efforts to curtail systemic delays within the immigration court system.
Christopher Landau, US deputy secretary of State framed the intervention as a necessary defense against a processing pipeline overburdened by non-meritorious filings. The step follows a broader push that has already seen the State Department cancel more than 175,000 visas belonging to foreign nationals, alongside the introduction of higher fee structures for business and technical work permits.
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The administration maintains that these strict measures are essential to bolstering national security and enforcing existing statutory limits.
However, international civil rights organizations continue to challenge the legal basis of the crackdown, arguing that broad revocations undermine due process standards and create systemic risk for legal travelers and asylum seekers alike.
Ngozi Ekugo is a Senior Correspondent at BusinessDay. She holds a Masters in management from the University of Lagos, an undergraduate from University of Lagos, and is in an alumni of Queen's College. Shes currently an associate member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (CIPM). She has a brief experience at Goldman sachs, London in its Human Capital Management division. She is interested in human capital development and is leveraging her varied experience across sectors to report labour and global mobility trends for stakeholders to make informed decisions.
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