The U.S. State Department announced on Monday that the U.S. embassies and consulates around the world will soon resume their visa services.

Travel Visa
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U.S. President Donald Trump has recently signed an executive order (EO) that restricts certain work visas for overseas hires until the end of this year to give more opportunities for Americans in the country to get the jobs first. The EO was both welcomed and criticized.

On Monday, the State Department only announced that U.S. embassies and consulates worldwide will soon resume their visa services. It did not provide details on where or when. 

A State Department spokesperson told ABC News that the resumption of routine visa services will occur on a post-by-post basis. This is in coordination with the department's "Diplomacy Strong" framework to ensure that the workforce is going back to work safely.

However, the department spokesperson cannot provide a specific date for when each mission will resume specific visa services. He said the public could visit each individual embassy or consulate's website for more details. So far, no embassy or consulate has announced plans to resume visa services.

Suspension of the immigration process and the travel ban has been among the Trump's administration's ways to control the spread of the coronavirus. But the action of the government to restrict work and student visas for foreign applicants has been very controversial in the past days.

To recall, the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued a directive that would prevent international students with F-1 or M-1 visas from studying in the United States in the fall if their school only offers online classes.

Several universities move to online-only coursework due to the global pandemic, but the directive would bar foreign students from taking the classes fully online.

The decision of the federal government has been challenged by over a dozen of states and more than 200 universities. That includes Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), who filed a lawsuit, challenging the Department of Homeland Security and ICE over the directive.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo allowed the diplomats and their families to return to the United States, but many posts are still facing staffing shortages and they are still figuring out how to restart services in crowded waiting rooms by practicing social distancing.

Meanwhile, even if the visa services resume, travel ban from over a dozen countries are still in effect. Under Trump's presidential proclamations, travel from over two dozen countries to the U.S. is still barred for any foreigner who has traveled in the prior two weeks through China, Iran, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Brazil and Europe's Schengen Area, a 26-country bloc that includes France, Germany, Italy and Spain.

Additionally, even if the State Department announced that they will resume their services, the U.S. consulate in Cusco, Peru is closing its doors on Monday until mid-November. 

The U.S. consulate said on Monday that U.S. citizens in the area should seek assistance at the U.S. Embassy in Lima.

Restrictions for certain visas and non-essential travels are just part of the country's action to control and prevent the spread of coronavirus, while waiting for vaccines.

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