2025 Visa Trends: Whims and Caprices Rule

Posted on July 12, 2025

The US used to be a welcoming country, opening its arms to tourists, business visitors, investors, executives, managers, creatives, and professionals such as scientists, mathematicians, and IT and business specialists. Not anymore. The mantra of this Administration? “A visa is a privilege, not a right.” But while each country of course has the right to determine who may enter, each country also has laws to define who may enter and who may not. Those immigration laws are to be complied with, not ignored, twisted, and run over by the whims and caprices of an Administration Run Amok.

While the rule of law is winning many of the judicial battles related to individuals inside the United States, so far in 2025, the Whims and Caprices continue to abuse individuals outside the US or attempting to enter the US. Here’s what we are seeing:

1. What happened at the border did not stay at the border. Border incidents from 20 to 30 years ago are being newly discovered and questioned thanks to database updates, government agency coordination, artificial intelligence, and increasingly vigilant consular officers. Even if those incidents seemed benign or not given any legal significance previously, those incidents are now being scrutinized more thoroughly – and are often leading to 212(a)(6)(C)(i) misrepresentation/fraud and 212(a)(6)(E) alien smuggling decisions, especially against applicants for immigrant visas. And sometimes, there is no I-601 immigrant waiver available, for example, if the consul accuses you of smuggling a person who was not a close family member.
2. Weaponization of 214(b). The most powerful instrument in the consul’s toolbox of denials is Section 214(b) in adjudicating the millions of visitor (B-1/B-2), student (F-1), investor (E-1 and E-2), exchange (J-1), and extraordinary ability (O-1) visa applications every year. To qualify for a visa, the applicant must meet the eligibility requirements of the category; in the case of visitors and students, there is also a “foreign residence” requirement. But consuls have grafted on to the law a new unwritten requirement for these classes of applicants: “desirable.” Is this visa applicant the type of person we want visiting, studying in, or working in the US? Is there something in his social media politically, religiously, or morally objectionable? Did he write an article in the past that we – the Trump Administration - don’t like? Was there some incident in his past – such as an arrest or consular allegation of a misdeed – that does not rise to the level of an inadmissibility, but nevertheless makes him “undesirable?” Invoking 214(b) and refusing the visa application has become the default reaction of the consul for these situations. In doing so, perversely, the Trump Administration is compelling individuals who do not want to immigrate to the US to get a green card and immigrate – just to visit family, study, or work.
3. Nonimmigrant waivers are becoming harder to receive. This Administration reversed longstanding policy by announcing that it would no longer defer to previous nonimmigrant waiver approvals when it came time to renew the waiver. Renewals of these Section 212(d)(3)(A) Hranka nonimmigrant waivers will no longer be nearly automatic as they used to be. Instead, the underlying incident – whether criminal or an immigration violation – and the applicant will be reevaluated and only after that reassessment will a consular decision be made.
4. Emboldened CBP. CBP personnel are becoming increasingly aggressive at airports in the US. Even more alarming is some of the tactics used by the CBP officers, such as fabricating stories in attempts to induce confessions; using coercion and bullying to intimidate travelers; threatening individuals with jail; handing out expedited removal orders and misrepresentation findings like lollipops; and invoking Section 212(a)(7)(A)(i)(I) more and more frequently.

The bottom line? What is clear is that passive acceptance of one’s visa “fate” does not work. Only by fighting back and protecting your good name and reputation can you preserve your ability to visit, study, work in, and immigrate to the US. Feel free to contact us to discuss your situation.