The US State Department has ordered an immediate halt to visa issuance for travellers using Afghan passports, citing urgent national security concerns. The directive, issued late Friday, came alongside a separate internal order instructing USCIS officers to pause all asylum decisions nationwide.
The Biden-era visa and asylum framework underwent a sudden and sweeping shift on Friday after the State Department announced an immediate halt to visa issuance for individuals travelling on Afghan passports. The terse statement, released late in the evening, said the move was necessary to “protect US national security and public safety” and would remain in force pending further review. Officials did not specify what intelligence triggered the order but confirmed it applied across all overseas posts.
The directive came just hours after CBS News reported that US Citizenship and Immigration Services had been instructed internally to pause all asylum decisions. According to the network, officers were told the freeze was effective immediately and would continue “until further guidance is issued”. Three senior officials familiar with the matter told CBS the instruction followed high-level discussions within the Trump administration after two National Guard soldiers were critically wounded in a shooting near the White House earlier this week.
The Department of State has IMMEDIATELY paused visa issuance for individuals traveling on Afghan passports.
The Department is taking all necessary steps to protect U.S. national security and public safety.
— Department of State (@StateDept) November 28, 2025
Asylum Freeze Tied to DC Shooting
While the Department of Homeland Security declined to comment directly on any link, two officials said the incident had “shifted the urgency” around security reviews already under way. Federal investigators are still hunting the suspect involved in the attack, which left the capital under heightened alert and prompted temporary lockdowns at multiple government buildings. The White House, Treasury and nearby facilities went into shelter-in-place mode after gunfire erupted only blocks from the executive mansion.
Internally, officials say the administration has been reassessing vulnerabilities in both the refugee pipeline and the adjudication of asylum claims. The pause ordered by USCIS affects every asylum office nationwide, though credible-fear interviews for migrants already in detention are expected to continue for now. Officers were told to complete interviews already scheduled but not to issue final decisions.
Political and Diplomatic Repercussions Expected
The State Department’s Afghan-visa suspension is expected to have immediate consequences for students, family-reunification applicants and special-case travellers who had already secured appointments. Diplomatic officials abroad were told to inform applicants that their cases could not proceed “under present authorities”. Afghanistan’s embassy in Washington did not respond to queries overnight.