The United States has announced a sweeping pause on immigrant visa processing for citizens of 75 countries, a move that coincides with Albania’s decision to align its visa regime with the European Union and impose new entry rules on nationals from Belarus, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Bosnia and other states.

Together, these changes are reshaping mobility across two continents, affecting families, students, workers and tourists from the Balkans, Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia and beyond. Here is what travelers and would-be migrants need to know now.

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Two Parallel Shocks to Global Mobility

In Washington, the U.S. Department of State has confirmed that, effective January 21, 2026, American consulates worldwide will pause the issuance of immigrant visas for nationals of 75 countries deemed at “high risk” of relying on public assistance. The pause follows a November policy order and is framed as part of a wider effort to enforce strict “public charge” rules that bar applicants considered likely to become dependent on government benefits. Officials insist the pause is temporary, but they have not set an end date or outlined a detailed review timetable.

At the same time, Albania is pushing through its own set of restrictive measures at Europe’s edge. As Tirana prepares for deeper alignment with the European Union and the Schengen acquis, it has moved to tighten access for several neighbors and regional partners, introducing new visa requirements or shortening visa-free stays for citizens of Belarus, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other countries. For a state that has traditionally marketed itself as an easy-access gateway to the Adriatic for Russians, Belarusians and other east European travelers, the shift is stark.

These two developments are formally unrelated, yet they converge in practice. Albanian citizens find themselves among those hit by the U.S. immigrant visa pause, even as their own government reworks who can enter Albania. Meanwhile, citizens of countries like Belarus, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro and Bosnia face a double squeeze: tighter entry to Albania and sharply reduced prospects for starting a new life in the United States.

Albania Tightens Its Own Visa Map

Albania’s recent moves are rooted in its long-term ambition to join the European Union. To advance accession talks, candidate countries are expected to gradually harmonize their visa policies with those of the Schengen area, applying similar entry conditions and security vetting to nationals from outside the bloc. For Albania, that means undoing some of the liberal, tourism-driven measures it adopted over the last decade, when it allowed visa-free or simplified entry for a wide range of countries in a bid to grow the sector rapidly.

Belarusian citizens, once courted as a niche but high-spending market along with Russians and Ukrainians, now face noticeably tougher rules. Seasonal visa waivers and extended stays have either been scrapped or sharply constrained, reflecting wider European concerns over security, sanctions evasion and irregular migration. At the same time, Albanian authorities have signaled that they will no longer serve as a de facto back door into the rest of Europe for citizens of sanctioned or high-risk states, including parts of the post-Soviet space.

Even closer to home, nationals of Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina are encountering a more regimented system than in years past. While Western Balkan citizens already enjoy varying degrees of visa-free access within the region, Albania is incrementally introducing more EU-style entry controls: clearer documentation requirements, more consistent checks at land borders and, in some cases, a narrowing of eligibility for long-stay or work permits. For Moldova and other Eastern Partnership states, the message is similar: Albania’s visa policies will increasingly mirror Brussels’ priorities, not bilateral tourism deals.

Tourism operators in Tirana, Durrës and coastal hubs say the new rules could initially dent visitor numbers from some eastern and regional markets. However, policymakers argue that higher security standards and closer alignment with the EU will ultimately boost Albania’s attractiveness for mainstream European travelers and investors, especially if accession talks gain momentum.

Inside the U.S. Pause on Immigrant Visas

The U.S. decision to halt immigrant visa processing for 75 countries is one of the broadest legal migration restrictions imposed in recent years. According to the State Department’s public notice, the pause is targeted at would-be immigrants from countries whose nationals are judged to have “unacceptable rates” of welfare usage in the United States. The measure covers immigrant visas handled by embassies and consulates abroad, including family-sponsored, employment-based and diversity visas.

The list spans almost every region. Among the affected are Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Azerbaijan, the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Burma, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, the 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, the Kyrgyz Republic, Laos, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Pakistan, the 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 and Yemen.

Crucially, the pause applies only to immigrant visas requested at overseas posts. It does not affect nonimmigrant categories, such as B visitor visas for tourism and business, F and J student and exchange visas, H and L work visas, or other temporary stays. Nor does it reach applications handled by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services inside the United States, including adjustment of status for people already present lawfully on other visas.

For those directly affected, the distinction can seem academic. Consular posts have been instructed to stop issuing immigrant visas to nationals of these countries as of January 21, even if interviews have already taken place and the case is otherwise approvable. Officials have described the move as a “pause” rather than a ban and say no previously issued visas will be revoked on this basis. Nonetheless, many applicants now face indefinite delays without any clear indication of when processing will resume or what additional criteria they may eventually be required to meet.

Why Albania, Belarus, Kosovo and the Balkans Are in the Crosshairs

The blanket character of the U.S. list has drawn attention to how and why certain regions were swept in. Albania’s inclusion is particularly striking given its status as a NATO member and official EU candidate. U.S. officials have not publicly released country-by-country welfare data, but they argue that the 75 countries as a whole have produced immigrant cohorts who, in their view, rely on public assistance at disproportionately high rates. Critics counter that the methodology is opaque and may punish countries with large diasporas and lower average incomes, rather than focusing on individual financial eligibility.

For the Balkans, the impact is wide. Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Montenegro all appear on the list, as does Serbia’s close partner Russia. For years, the U.S. has been a key destination for family reunification and skilled migration from the region. Many Albanian and Bosnian families, for example, have relatives who secured green cards through the family preference or diversity visa programs and had been in the process of sponsoring spouses, parents or siblings. Those pipelines are now abruptly blocked at the consular stage.

Belarus, another country singled out in the emerging Albanian visa regime, is also included in the U.S. suspension. Already subject to extensive sanctions, travel restrictions and airspace bans from the EU and its allies, Belarusians now face an additional hurdle in pursuing permanent residence in the United States. The move is likely to hit those fleeing political repression as well as economic migrants seeking family ties or employment-based paths.

Kosovo’s situation is equally complicated. While Kosovars finally secured long-awaited visa-free travel to the Schengen area for short stays, the U.S. pause on immigrant visas pulls the other way, making long-term migration to America significantly harder. Combined with Albania’s own tightening moves, the net effect is a narrowing of both eastward and westward options for Balkan citizens who have historically viewed mobility as a route out of economic stagnation.

What the U.S. Pause Means in Practice for Travelers and Families

For travel planning, one key distinction stands out: this U.S. policy targets immigrant visas, not short-term visits. Citizens of Albania, Belarus, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Bosnia and the dozens of other affected countries can still apply for nonimmigrant visas for tourism, business, study, seasonal work or cultural exchanges under the usual rules. Consular officers may scrutinize applications more closely in the current climate, but the State Department has been explicit that visitor and student visas are not covered by the freeze.

The disruption is most severe for those in the middle of the immigrant visa pipeline. Applicants who have already completed the laborious preliminary steps with the National Visa Center and were simply awaiting a consular interview or final printing now face open-ended delays. Attorneys say they are seeing cases where medical exams have expired or police certificates will need to be reissued if and when processing restarts, adding cost and uncertainty. Families separated across borders, in some cases for years, are being told to wait indefinitely while Washington reviews its public charge vetting framework.

There are narrow exceptions. Officials suggest that cases involving urgent humanitarian considerations or compelling U.S. national interests may receive waivers, though criteria remain unclear and are expected to be applied sparingly. Dual nationals who can apply with a passport from a country not on the list are theoretically unaffected, offering a potential workaround for some applicants with multiple citizenships.

Immigration lawyers emphasize that the pause does not cancel underlying petitions. Approved immigrant petitions from U.S. sponsors remain valid and on file, and there is no suggestion at this stage that the government will revoke them wholesale. Still, until the State Department completes its policy review and issues new guidance, consular officers will not be allowed to convert those approvals into actual visas for nationals of the 75 targeted countries.

How Albania’s New Rules Reshape Regional Travel

On the European side, Albania’s evolving visa stance is already recalibrating travel flows around the Adriatic and the Western Balkans. For Belarusians who once treated Albania as a convenient sun-and-sea alternative to EU destinations that had imposed stricter post-2020 restrictions, the new requirements could be a turning point. Tour operators report an uptick in questions about documentation, processing times and the risk that Albanian entry might no longer offer a straightforward route to broader European travel.

For citizens of Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Moldova, Albania’s policy shift carries both symbolic and practical weight. Symbolically, it underscores the reality that even within the Western Balkans, visa-free regional travel cannot be taken for granted as governments move to satisfy EU benchmarks on border control and migration management. Practically, increments in paperwork or shorter permissible stays complicate traditional patterns of cross-border commuting, seasonal work and family visits that have long transcended formal political borders.

Albanian hoteliers and restaurateurs worry that any additional friction could weaken demand from neighboring countries that helped fill rooms in shoulder seasons outside the peak European summer rush. Travel industry groups are urging authorities to implement any new visa or border rules with clear communication, digitized processes and reasonable transition periods to avoid confusion at air and land crossings. Officials, for their part, say they will weigh economic risks carefully against the strategic imperative of aligning with EU standards.

Some analysts believe the shake-up may ultimately push the region toward more coordinated visa and border policies, especially as EU candidate countries aim to avoid becoming weak links in the external frontier. That could mean more information-sharing on travelers, common blacklists and harmonized treatment of high-risk nationalities, including Belarusians and citizens of other sanctioned states. For ordinary travelers, however, the immediate experience is likely to be one of additional checks, questions and, in some cases, refusals at borders that once felt more permeable.

Planning Ahead in a New Era of Visa Uncertainty

For individuals in Albania, Belarus, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Bosnia and the dozens of other countries caught up in the U.S. immigrant visa pause, long-term mobility planning now demands extra caution. Those contemplating immigration to the United States may need to explore alternative pathways, such as pursuing studies on an F or J visa with the possibility of changing status later inside the country, where consular processing is not involved. Others may look more seriously at Canada, the United Kingdom, the European Union or Gulf states, which have not adopted comparable blanket pauses, though many have tightened their own rules in recent years.

Within Europe, travelers should expect Albania to keep moving closer to the Schengen rulebook rather than away from it. That means changes that might feel restrictive in the short term could be precursors to a future in which Albanian citizens themselves enjoy freer movement across the EU, while Tirana enforces stricter controls on who it lets in. For citizens of neighboring and partner countries, the safest approach is to check official Albanian government channels before travel, ensure passports are valid well beyond intended stays and be prepared to document accommodation, return plans and financial means at the border.

For now, the overriding theme on both sides of the Atlantic is uncertainty. The U.S. government has set a clear start date for the immigrant visa pause but not an end date, and has not specified what metrics would persuade officials that nationals of Albania, Belarus, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Bosnia and the other 68 countries no longer pose an unacceptable “public charge” risk. Albania, in turn, has signaled its direction of travel toward the EU’s restrictive consensus but is still sketching the details of how and when new rules will be rolled out.

Travelers, migrants and the tourism industry are left to adapt in real time, recalculating routes and timelines in a landscape where access once taken for granted can suddenly be curtailed. For many in the Balkans, Eastern Europe and beyond, the combination of Albania’s tightening visa regime and Washington’s immigrant visa freeze marks the start of a more difficult era for cross-border movement, one in which planning ahead and staying informed have never been more critical.