The United States issued fewer visas to visitors and workers worldwide in February 2026, while the Cayman Islands recorded a sharp decline in approvals for Caymanians. State Department data show 51 nonimmigrant visas issued to Caymanians that month, down from 78 a year earlier, a 34.6% drop.
The contraction extended beyond the islands. A New York Times analysis of State Department data found legal immigration from the Caribbean fell 53% under policies adopted late last year and early this year.
Worldwide, tourist and business visa issuances fell about 25% year over year in February, the latest month with figures available. Student and worker visa issuances dropped around 30%. The declines cover different visa categories.
Travel bans and processing pauses cover different groups
Restrictions that took effect this year apply differently across the region. A travel ban blocks entry or visa issuance, while the separate processing pause applies to immigrant visas and excludes temporary visitor categories.
| Measure | Countries named | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Full travel ban | Haiti | Nationals barred from receiving visas or entering the United States |
| Partial restrictions | Antigua and Barbuda, Cuba, Dominica | Partial visa restrictions |
| Broader State Department pause | Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Grenada, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | Immigrant visa processing pause |
The expanded restrictions took effect January 1, 2026, on top of an earlier ban imposed the previous June. Separately, a freeze announced for 75 countries, including the Bahamas, began on January 21. It did not cover temporary tourist, business or other nonimmigrant visas.
That pause was framed by the State Department as addressing countries considered “at high risk of public benefits usage.” The categories overlap, but they are not interchangeable.
The regional decline ranged from 16% to 99%
The regional breakdown put the 53% decline among the steepest outside Africa, Central Asia and the Middle East. The figures show uneven changes across regions.
| Region | Change in immigrant visa issuance |
|---|---|
| Central Asia | Down 99% |
| Africa | Down 89% |
| Eastern Europe | Down 84% |
| Middle East | Down 81% |
| Australia and Oceania | Down 73% |
| South Asia | Down 63% |
| South America | Down 60% |
| Caribbean | Down 53% |
| East Asia | Down 33% |
| Central America | Down 30% |
| Southeast Asia | Down 17% |
| Western Europe | Down 16% |
Mexico moved in the opposite direction, with approvals up 17%. Canada recorded a 142% increase under the same policy framework.
Country-level totals show especially steep drops in Jamaica, Haiti, Cuba, the Bahamas, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Each had an immigrant visa issuance decline of 80% or more. Guyana, which was not named on either restriction list, still fell at least 50%.
The Dominican Republic and Trinidad and Tobago were among just 10 countries worldwide where immigrant visa issuance increased. The other countries named in that group were Mexico, Canada, India and Honduras. The figures did not explain the increases.
Local totals exclude travelers using other routes
The Caymanian decline was concentrated in B1/B2 visitor visas, used for tourism, business and some medical travel. Issuances in that category fell to 50 from 77, a 35.1% decrease.
January showed a similar pattern. Caymanians received 55 nonimmigrant visas, compared with 74 in January 2025, a 25.7% reduction. Across January and February 2026, the total was 106, down from 152 in the same period a year earlier, a 30.3% decline.
Those figures count visas issued to Cayman nationals, not every Cayman resident traveling to the United States. They exclude people applying on foreign passports, dual U.S. citizens, travelers with valid existing visas, and eligible Visa Waiver Program visitors.
Some Cayman travelers have also faced a separate problem. In June, previously approved Electronic System for Travel Authorizations, or ESTAs, were revoked without explanation, prompting cancellations and visa appointment requests at the U.S. Embassy in Kingston, Jamaica. The Visa Waiver Program allows eligible passport holders, including British passport holders, to visit for short stays without a visa.
A court ruling did not end the worldwide appointment pause
The 75-country freeze faced a court challenge. On August 21, 2026, a federal court struck down the State Department policy in CLINIC v. Rubio, finding that public-charge decisions under INA § 212(a)(4) must assess an individual applicant’s circumstances rather than rely on a country-wide determination.
Four days later, on August 25, the State Department paused immigrant visa appointments at consular posts worldwide for what it called “in-depth training” on public-charge screening. The department’s stated aim was to ensure applicants were unlikely to depend on public benefits reserved for qualified Americans in need.
The later pause applied worldwide, not only to the 75 countries. Interviews could still be scheduled and conducted, but the department was not issuing immigrant visas during the pause. Officials had suggested it “isn't expected to last beyond early to mid-September”; as of September 14, 2026, no formal restart date had been announced.
A separate measure of the Bahamas’ prior visa record showed a 12.8% refusal rate for immigrant visa applicants in fiscal year 2024, meaning roughly 87% were approved. A new Department of Homeland Security public-charge framework for adjustment-of-status applicants took effect September 18, 2026.
Federal courts have ordered the government to resume issuing visas in two lawsuits, but many applicants whose cases were blocked remained waiting months later. Wilian Nelson Hernandez Morales was stranded in Guatemala from January, separated from his wife and four children in New Jersey. He had been told his marriage-based green card application would have been approved but for the freeze.
Regional leaders and Washington defend different priorities
Visa processing and migration were raised at a CARICOM Heads of Government meeting in St. Kitts and Nevis attended by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Bahamian Prime Minister Philip Davis also attended. Press Secretary Keishla Adderley said migration and visa issues ranked among the meeting’s top concerns.
“As you know late last year, a decision was taken by the United States to put a hold on the application process, the processing of non-tourist visas and that of course was cause for concern for CARICOM governments and governments elsewhere, [and] of course for persons who travel and may want to work in the United States.”
Adderley said Rubio described the holds as part of a review of U.S. protocols. She also said regional leaders heard his assurance that the review was meant to ensure the United States was satisfied with its procedures. Rubio raised security and regional stability, calling for greater cooperation against criminal organizations and drug and weapon trafficking.
The administration has defended tighter screening as a way to strengthen national security, counter fraud and check eligibility for entry. Its measures include travel suspensions, tighter rules for some workers and students, and expanded vetting, including social media screening.
On 20 Oct., the administration said it had revoked more than 300,000 visas since taking office in January 2025, up from more than 175,000 reported in August. State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said the government had “zero tolerance for foreigners here on visas who break the law, commit fraud, or undermine our national security.”
The wider immigrant visa decline also reached countries without explicit restrictions. State Department issuance totals showed increases for the Dominican Republic and Trinidad and Tobago, while Guyana’s total fell by 50 percent or more despite its omission from the restriction lists.
