- The U.S. Embassy in Pakistan cancelled all visa appointments through March 6, 2026, due to security unrest.
- Violence erupted following reports that Ayatollah Khamenei was killed in a U.S.-Israeli military strike.
- Protesters breached the Karachi consulate wall, leading U.S. Marines to open fire during the clashes.
(PAKISTAN) — The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad cancelled all visa appointments through Friday, March 6, citing security conditions as unrest spread across Pakistan after reports of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s death in a U.S.-Israeli strike.
“Due to the current security situation, the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad and the Consulates General in Lahore and Karachi have cancelled all visa appointments through Friday, March 6,” the U.S. Embassy Islamabad posted on X (formerly Twitter) on March 3, 2026.
The suspension covers both immigrant and nonimmigrant visa interviews, leaving applicants uncertain about when interviews will resume and how quickly backlogs will clear once operations restart.
Facilities in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi fall under the cancellation window, and the mission said new dates will be provided automatically “once conditions permit.”
The emergency move by the US embassy in Pakistan also pauses American Citizen Services, including passport renewals, tightening access to in-person consular help as protests and security incidents affect areas around U.S. facilities.
Unrest intensified after a reported joint U.S.-Israeli military operation killed Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on February 28, 2026, a development that quickly fed into security planning for U.S. posts across the region.
Iran declared 40 days of national mourning and vowed “devastating” retaliation, as regional tensions rose and U.S. officials warned of broader risks to U.S. citizens and interests.
In Karachi, protesters breached the outer wall of the U.S. Consulate on March 1, 2026, and U.S. officials confirmed that U.S. Marines opened fire on the crowd, a rare use of force.
At least 25 people have been killed in clashes across Pakistan, including 10 during the storming of the Karachi consulate and others in Islamabad and the Gilgit-Baltistan region, according to the figures provided in the account of the unrest.
The State Department issued a “Worldwide Caution” on March 1, 2026, warning of a high risk of retaliatory attacks against U.S. citizens and interests globally, a posture that can coincide with abrupt operational changes at U.S. posts.
Tuesday’s update extended a short, defined cancellation window rather than offering a reopening date, and the U.S. mission framed the pause as tied to conditions that must permit safe operations.
For applicants who travelled for interviews or arranged time off work, the halt means rescheduling depends on the return of routine staffing and security conditions, not just the availability of appointment slots.
The embassy’s message pointed to automatic rescheduling “once conditions permit,” but it did not set out how quickly new dates would appear for those already booked in the affected period.
Even if consular sections resume interviews after Friday, March 6, visa timelines may remain constrained by other U.S. immigration processing rules that sit outside embassy control.
The Department of State manages overseas visa appointments, but U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Department of Homeland Security have implemented policy changes that affect many applicants from the region, including some whose paperwork is otherwise ready for a final consular step.
On January 1, 2026, USCIS put an indefinite “adjudicative hold” on pending benefit requests for nationals of “high-risk” countries, including Iran, under Policy Memorandum PM-602-0194.
“Effective immediately, this memorandum directs U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) personnel to: Place a hold on all pending benefit applications for aliens listed in Presidential Proclamation (PP) 10998. pending a comprehensive review.” (USCIS Memo, Jan 1, 2026).
The policy applies across forms, including I-129, I-140 and I-765, as described in the memorandum summary, and it can stall adjudications even when a case is documentarily complete.
Consular closures in Pakistan affect interview capacity and in-person services, while USCIS holds and pauses can slow or stop decisions that applicants need before they can move to the next step.
A separate constraint affects asylum processing inside the United States regardless of nationality, USCIS said.
USCIS continues a nationwide pause on processing of all Form I-589 (Application for Asylum), a policy in effect since late 2025 to prioritize national security vetting.
Taken together, the Pakistan shutdown and the USCIS pauses mean some families and employers may face delays on multiple fronts, from interview availability overseas to adjudications that determine eligibility for later steps.
The embassy’s emergency update focused on scheduled visa appointments, but applicants often rely on related services that can also slow when facilities curtail operations, such as passport pickup and return tied to visa processing.
The U.S. mission said American Citizen Services are suspended, and it did not lay out which sub-services, if any, might continue on a limited basis during the cancellation window.
For Pakistan-based applicants, the immediate impact is simple: interviews do not happen during the defined period, and the timing of new slots depends on security conditions and operational capacity.
The broader backdrop includes a separate State Department policy shift that already limited immigrant visa issuance for a large group of countries, including Pakistan and Iran.
As of January 21, 2026, the State Department indefinitely paused the issuance of immigrant visas for nationals of 75 countries, including Pakistan and Iran, as part of an internal review of “public charge” and financial self-sufficiency standards.
That freeze operates differently from the Pakistan cancellations because it affects issuance, not merely the ability to attend an interview, and it can stop cases even after applicants complete required steps.
Routine nonimmigrant visas such as B-1/B-2, H-1B and F-1 were technically excluded from the immigrant-visa pause, but the Pakistan facility closures have made them “practically impossible to obtain in Pakistan due to the facility closures,” as described in the account.
The difference between “paused issuance” and “paused appointments” matters for timelines, because an applicant might wait for an interview to be rescheduled, then face additional limits on final visa printing or issuance depending on the category.
In the current episode, the trigger for the embassy’s operational response was security conditions amid unrest linked to Khamenei’s death, including the Karachi consular-area incident and reports of clashes across multiple regions.
Karachi, Islamabad and Gilgit-Baltistan emerged as geographic hotspots mentioned in the reports, underscoring the spread of unrest beyond a single city.
Security risks around diplomatic facilities can force rapid changes that affect not only visa services but also staffing patterns, local travel for employees, and access to consular compounds.
The State Department’s Worldwide Caution served as a signal of elevated global risk, and the warning posture can influence how posts assess threats to their premises and to applicants who travel to them.
For many Pakistani families seeking immigrant visas, the closure of interviews in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi comes on top of the separate immigrant visa freeze that already limits paths forward for issuance.
For students, temporary workers and visitors seeking nonimmigrant visas, the practical barrier is now the inability to secure an interview slot in Pakistan during the closure window, regardless of whether their category sits outside the immigrant-visa pause.
The USCIS adjudicative hold adds another layer for nationals of designated countries, including Iran, because it can freeze pending benefit requests that support travel, work authorization, or immigrant pathways.
Applicants often move between agencies and stages, from USCIS petitions to National Visa Center processing to consular interviews, and disruptions at any point can lengthen overall timelines.
While the embassy’s announcement covered a defined window through Friday, March 6, it did not provide a forecast for resuming routine operations in the following week.
The mission also did not set out whether it would prioritize certain categories when services resume, or how it would handle applicants who had traveled long distances for appointments set during the cancellation period.
In Karachi, the March 1, 2026 breach of the outer wall at the U.S. Consulate and the confirmed use of live fire by U.S. Marines marked a sharp escalation in the security environment surrounding U.S. facilities.
The reported death toll across Pakistan, including 10 during the storming of the Karachi consulate, reinforced the sense of volatility that can drive temporary shutdowns of consular functions.
Iran’s 40 days of mourning and its vow of “devastating” retaliation formed part of the broader escalation that officials linked to heightened risks, including the potential for retaliatory attacks on U.S. interests.
For visa applicants, the immediate next step is monitoring official channels for changes in operating status and instructions on rescheduling.
The U.S. Embassy Islamabad posts updates on its website at pk.usembassy.gov, including news and alerts tied to appointment availability and operating status.
USCIS publishes policy memoranda and related guidance at uscis.gov/legal-resources/policy-memoranda, including documents such as PM-602-0194 that can shape adjudications independent of embassy operations.
The State Department maintains travel advisories and notices, including Worldwide Caution messages, at travel.state.gov, which applicants and U.S. citizens often consult during periods of heightened risk.
For Iran-related official messaging, the U.S. Virtual Embassy Iran provides information at ir.usembassy.gov, as the regional fallout from Khamenei’s death continues to ripple through diplomatic and consular operations.
