The Trump administration has paused or rescheduled immigrant visa appointments at US embassies and consulates worldwide to conduct “in-depth training” for consular officers, the Financial Times reported. The training will focus on identifying applicants who may become dependent on US public benefits.Applicants with scheduled interviews received emails informing them that their appointments had been cancelled or rescheduled. They were told that the US government would provide new dates later. The State Department has not said when visa appointments will resume.Also Read| US may revoke up to 200,000 tourist, business visas“A more prosperous America means ensuring that visa applicants are not likely to become a public charge, as defined under US law and regulation, and not likely to become dependent on US public benefits reserved for qualified Americans in need,” a State Department spokesperson told the FT.The department launched “a global training initiative” this month to “ensure all consular officers are fully equipped to evaluate every visa applicant comprehensively and consistently”, the spokesperson said.“To accommodate this in-depth training, appointments for visa services will be adjusted,” the spokesperson added.Applicants face fresh disruptionBrian Simmons, an attorney at immigration law firm Fragomen in Washington, told the FT that many applicants had already spent thousands of dollars and changed their lives to attend scheduled interviews.The latest disruption is particularly significant because immigrant visa applicants are required to complete their processing in their country of citizenship under a policy introduced by the Trump administration last year. This applies even to some people who legally live and work in the US, including those married to American citizens or who have American-born children.The policy has forced applicants to travel outside the US for interviews. The postponement of appointments could leave some applicants stranded abroad and create further delays in their immigration process.Also Read| Trump’s immigration crackdown has a Plan B, C and DPause follows court ruling on 75-country policyThe immigrant visa appointment disruption comes after a federal judge struck down a separate policy that suspended immigrant visa processing for applicants from 75 mostly poorer countries.US District Judge Jeannette Vargas ruled that the policy, announced by the State Department in January, interfered with the “discretion and decision-making” that Congress had assigned to consular officers.Vargas also struck down visa refusals based on the policy. She has given both sides until September 11 to propose how the remaining issues in the case should be resolved.The Trump administration has faced several legal challenges to its immigration policies. Courts previously blocked an effort during Trump’s first term to bar nationals of seven majority-Muslim countries from entering the US. The Supreme Court later allowed a narrower version of that policy to take effect.The latest immigrant visa pause is part of the administration’s broader effort to tighten entry into the US. Trump has expanded immigration enforcement, introduced new restrictions on visas and green cards, and ended almost all refugee resettlement.