On January 14, 2025, the U.S. Department of State temporarily suspended the issuance of immigrant visas for citizens of 75 countries, including Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. As a result, immigrant visa processing for South Caucasus countries is currently on hold. The suspension does not affect non-immigrant visas, such as tourist, student, or business visas.
According to the Department of State’s consular statistics, 1,817 immigrant visas were issued to Georgian citizens in 2024. For comparison, 1,397 visas were issued in 2023, 1,958 in 2022, and 652 in 2021. Of the 2024 immigrant visas, 418 were issued to family members of U.S. citizens, while the remaining visas primarily went to Green Card lottery winners. In the 2024 Green Card lottery, 3,194 Georgians won, compared to 1,342 winners in the 2025 lottery. Following the January 14 suspension, those who had already won a Green Card but had not yet received their immigrant visa are temporarily unable to complete the process.
Non-immigrant visa issuance, however, continues normally. In 2024, the U.S. issued 10,335 non-immigrant visas to Georgian citizens—the highest number in the past decade. For context, 9,730 visas were issued in 2023, 4,172 in 2022, and 1,381 in 2021.
A breakdown of the 2024 non-immigrant visas issued to Georgians by category is as follows: A – 453; B-1 – 7; B-2 – 0; B-1/B-2 – 7,676; C – 4; C-1/D – 887; E – 9; F – 342; G – 162; H – 63; I – 39; J – 560.
