Immigrant Visa Pause Update, October 14, 2026: Almaty Refuses a Non-Plaintiff Parent on Public Charge, Bogota Finds an EB-3 Approvable but Out of Visa Numbers, and Addis Ababa and Rio Set Re-Interviews

Twenty-four records went into the tracker today from 55 threads, and the status table grows to 64 posts with Belgrade and Seoul added. Two outcomes lead. At Almaty the first non-plaintiff re-interview we hold ended in a public-charge refusal for a 64-year-old parent whose sponsor cleared the income line. At Bogota an employment-based family was told the case is approvable, and then that there is no visa number to give them. Two posts that had never called anyone back, Addis Ababa and Rio de Janeiro, set re-interview dates. A court hearing on enforcement of the pause ruling is set for today in New York; we will carry what applicants relay from it tomorrow.

Almaty: the sponsor's income was not the question

An IR-5 mother first interviewed on 17 February and refused under the pause was emailed in the week of 5 October for a follow-up interview at short notice. The email asked for a new medical and a list that is now the longest in the re-interview guide: a personal credit report, a government certificate showing whether she had ever received targeted social assistance, a valuation of every asset with English translation, bank and pension statements, a US health insurance plan, and a job offer or work plan in the United States. She is retired, works part-time for herself, speaks beginner English and owns an apartment she planned to sell after the visa. The petitioner filed a new I-864 above the guideline. The officer asked the standard questions on assets and work plans, then handed over a 212(a)(4) paper with no explanation and cancelled her visitor visa in the same sitting. No joint sponsor was invited.

Two things to take from it. Insurance plan and work plan were on the list and could not be produced; the guide now treats both as required. And a refusal within a year can be reconsidered on new evidence without a fresh application under 22 CFR 42.81(e), which is where the family is now looking.

Bogota: approvable, but no visa numbers

A non-plaintiff EB-3 (other workers) family first interviewed on 28 January had their second interview this week with a 19-month-old in tow. The officer checked English first and continued in Spanish, asked about the principal's job offer, the spouse's plans for work, expected pay and childcare, and asked to see the health insurance research. The travel cover attached to their credit cards plus a quote for a US plan satisfied him. Savings and assets were taken by word, no documents. Then the turn: he wanted to approve, but the post had no visa numbers in the category, so the case waits for numbers with the passports left behind. The other-workers cutoff has retrogressed to January 2022, which is the likely reason. A March EB-3 and a child interviewed alone on 27 January are still waiting to be scheduled at the same post.

Two posts move for the first time

• Addis Ababa: an IR1 with a January medical was invited around 13 October to a re-interview on 1 December. The email said nothing about the medical, which has expired. First callback reported there.
• Rio de Janeiro: relayed from a screenshot, a January first interview has a 10 November re-interview. A second applicant hears the post is working both ends of the backlog so recent interviewees do not also lose their medicals.
• Belgrade joins the table: visas were issued this week, but not in date order. A December 2025 case with a valid medical is still waiting while people interviewed after it were re-interviewed and issued.
• Seoul joins too, with nothing moving: an EB-2 inquiry sent on 22 August was answered on 14 October with the training template.

London, chronology, and everything else

• London, relayed: the four K-1s refused on 1 October were 221(g) refusals, not denials. Two were students with a joint sponsor earning over 200k; one was a homeowner on about 70k with insurance and no debt. K-1s interviewed on 6 October were approved. An immigrant-visa applicant says the post is not working in date order. Separately, an H-1B third-country national got a blank 221(g) slip and the passport back by courier in two days.
• Applicants compared order of play across posts: Bangkok in order, a handful each Tuesday; Bogota and Cotonou out of order; Accra said to be in order; Guatemala City and Riyadh not working at all.
• Paris: the 30 September K-1 still has no date, and a group of early-September K-1s report none either.
• Warsaw: the EB-3 from a non-pause country interviewed 28 September still reads Ready after one CEAC touch, inquiry unanswered. Madrid's July case is the same, while others at the post see October portal updates. Mumbai: an F3 applicant has no reschedule either.
• San Jose: the 8 October case bought a ten-week visitor medical policy for about 260 dollars before the interview and was told of a new second-step review by another officer. The insurance section of the guide now lists what has and has not been accepted.

What to do with this

• If the re-interview email lists a health insurance plan or a work plan, bring something for each: a newcomer policy quote or purchase, and a job offer or a written plan. The guide has the accepted examples.
• Employment-based applicants: check the visa bulletin cutoff for your category before the second interview. An approvable case still waits if the number is not there.
• Your post's row is on the status-by-embassy table, and each post now has its own page with an email alert. If your report would change a row, add your case.

Every figure here is from community-reported, anonymised cases. Not legal advice; not affiliated with the U.S. Department of State.