175,000 Visas Canceled: What It Means for You in 2026

The State Department is now canceling more than 10,000 visas every month in 2026 — up from roughly 8,000 a month in 2025. Under President Biden's final year, the total was about 40,000 for all of 2024. The current administration has already surpassed 175,000 total revocations, quadrupling the previous pace. Officials say the cancellations target people who broke visa terms, committed crimes, threatened national security, or defrauded US citizens. But immigration policy experts say the numbers tell a murkier story.

Who is actually being targeted?

The State Department listed serious offenses — rape, trafficking, child abuse — as examples. But the leading causes also include drunk driving, assault, theft, and drug offenses. Reckless driving made the list too. The department has not broken down how many of the 175,000 revocations came from serious crimes versus minor infractions like a traffic stop. Adriel D. Orozco, senior policy counsel at the American Immigration Council, said the department's statement "lumps foreign policy cases together with DUI arrests and people's political speech, making the headline number almost meaningless" and raises questions about accountability.

Some revocations had nothing to do with crime. Rümeysa Öztürk, a Turkish doctoral student at Tufts University, had her visa pulled after she co-wrote an opinion piece criticizing her university's position on the war in Gaza. She was detained, but a judge later dismissed the case. She has since moved back to Turkey. The department also canceled visas of people who made comments online about the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, including one person who wrote that Kirk had "died too late." Secretary of State Marco Rubio has separately determined that certain foreign nationals are deportable on foreign policy grounds — including individuals linked to foreign governments or accused of expressing hostility toward the US president. A US embassy in North Africa also canceled more than 100 visas held by parents accused of traveling to the US mainly so their children would be born as American citizens.

The department says it runs a continuous vetting system that screens roughly 55 million foreign nationals who currently hold valid US visas. That means your visa can be reviewed — and revoked — even after you entered the country legally. A canceled visa does not automatically mean immediate deportation; that falls to the Department of Homeland Security. But it does make you vulnerable to removal proceedings. The department's position is clear: "A US visa is a privilege, not a right."

What to do

• Check your visa status regularly. If you have a valid visa and are inside the US, confirm your status has not changed by consulting an immigration attorney — especially if you have any past contact with law enforcement, even for minor offenses.
• Be careful about social media. Posts criticizing US government policy or public figures have been cited as grounds for revocation. This applies to posts made before and after you entered the US.
• If you receive any notice that your visa has been revoked or that you are in removal proceedings, do not ignore it. Contact an immigration lawyer immediately — you may have the right to challenge the decision in immigration court.
• If you are applying for a new visa or extension, be aware that consular officers are now screening social media and asking whether you fear returning home. Answering yes — or refusing to answer — significantly increases the chance of denial, according to a State Department cable obtained by the Guardian.

Related: our step-by-step guide — “O-1 Visa for Extraordinary Talent”.