In the progress of the dialogue: the Russian Federation and the United States remain committed to restoring the work of embassies

The United States will work with the Russian Federation to restore the full functioning of embassies. And the decision to suspend the issuance of immigration visas to Russians will not affect this. This was reported to Izvestia by the United States diplomatic mission. The parties have already held two meetings last year, discussing the work of the embassies, but new contacts are not expected yet, the diplomats said. The United States has imposed restrictions on the issuance of visas for citizens of more than 70 countries, including ours. Nevertheless, Russians still have the opportunity to come to the United States for tourism, study, and business trips. About how the Americans are tightening their migration policy and what has changed for Russians is in the Izvestia article.

The United States and the Russian Federation are working to restore the work of the embassies

The US State Department announced the suspension of the issuance of immigration visas to citizens of 75 countries, including Russia, from January 21, 2026. From now on, the American side will review its policy towards those migrants who live in the country on social benefits and are considered by Washington as a "burden on society." The list includes most of the African countries and a number of Central Asian states.

Despite the decision, the United States will continue to work with Russia to restore the full functioning of the embassies, the US diplomatic mission in Russia told Izvestia.

— The United States considers the channel of bilateral work as a constructive and permanent format for negotiations to stabilize the work of our representative offices. Our discussions with our Russian colleagues focused on the restoration of our diplomatic missions in Moscow and Washington, rather than on the broader normalization/improvement of our relations. However, currently no upcoming negotiations in this format are planned," the embassy said.

Last year, the Russian Federation and the United States held two rounds of consultations to eliminate "irritants" in bilateral relations. They were held on February 27 and April 10 in Istanbul. The issue of restoring the activities of embassies and consulates General in Moscow and Washington was discussed at the meetings. Recall that the closure of Russian foreign institutions began at the end of 2016, during the presidency of Barack Obama.

A third consultation of this format was expected in the autumn of 2025, but the parties did not meet.

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Obviously, the suspension of the issuance of immigration visas to Russian citizens by the United States will be temporary, so in the future it will not harm bilateral relations, says Andrei Kortunov, an expert at the Valdai Club.

—Donald Trump is concerned that people who stay in the country are coming to the United States, putting additional strain on the budget and social infrastructure and not contributing much to the American economy," he says.

The US State Department clarified that the decision concerns only immigration visas. They are issued in order to move to the country for permanent residence with the prospect of obtaining United States citizenship. These include family visas, employment visas, and the Green Card program.

— Basically, this decision is directed against those who want to come to the United States to find a bride or groom, as well as against refugees. For example, if, during an interview with a 19-year—old girl, the visa officer felt that she was going to choose a husband, she would be refused," Mikhail Abasov, an expert at the Russian Union of Travel Industry and CEO of VCP, explained to Izvestia.

As for temporary visas, which are issued for tourism, visiting relatives, business trips, internships, medical treatment or study, they will continue to be issued, as before, for three years. At the same time, starting from September 6, 2025, according to the decision of the US authorities, Russians will be able to apply for visas only in Warsaw and Astana.

According to PCT experts, in the first nine months of 2025, from 100,000 to 162,000 Russian citizens visited the United States, which is 10% higher than the figure for the same period in 2024. Over the past year, the market has seen an increase in demand for American visas from Russians.

Tightening of US migration policy

The United States' decision to suspend the issuance of immigration visas to citizens of 75 countries should be considered as part of Donald Trump's consistent policy of reducing the flow of migrants. In 2025, the State Department cancelled more than 100,000 foreign visas, including about 8,000 student visas. This affected those citizens who have been charged or convicted of crimes, including assault, theft and drunk driving.

"We will continue to deport these thugs for the sake of America's security," the US State Department's press service said in a statement on the social network X.

This number is more than twice the number of visas cancelled in 2024 under the Joe Biden administration. At the end of November 2025, the head of the White House also announced plans to expel all migrants who came for asylum from the country, and at the end of October, he reduced the quota for accepting refugees from 125,000 to 7.5 thousand people next fiscal year from October 1.

According to American scholar Malek Dudakov, Trump has ensured that today much fewer migrants enter the United States, and the migration flow itself has fallen by 90% to its lowest levels in 60 years.

At the same time, as HSE analyst Egor Toropov noted in a conversation with Izvestia, on the eve of the November congressional elections, Trump was unable to achieve a reduction in consumer prices, which is why he had to switch attention to symbolic measures in migration policy.

At the same time, the White House administration used more drastic measures, organizing raids in a number of states. On the eve of taking office, President Trump announced plans to deport all illegal migrants from the United States in four years.

"We must step up efforts to detain and deport illegal migrants in America's largest cities, such as Los Angeles, Chicago and New York, where millions of illegal immigrants live,— Trump said in June this year.

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They want to raise this issue at a possible meeting of Russian and American parliamentarians.

Unsurprisingly, this eventually led to mass protests in a number of states. In June, because of the arrests of illegal immigrants, rallies began in Los Angeles, from where they spread to San Francisco. In response to the riots, Trump sent 2,000 National Guard officers to California, and for the first time in several decades, such a decision was made without prior request from the state authorities and without their consent.

At the beginning of the year, regular protests rocked the state of Minnesota. They began after an employee of the Migration Service (ICE) shot and killed 37-year-old activist Renee Nicole McLean Goode. The tragedy occurred during an ICE raid to identify illegal migrants. On January 13, the head of the US Department of Homeland Security, Christie Noem, announced the start of the largest immigration operation in Minnesota, and on the eve Trump threatened to deploy the armed forces.

At the same time, due to the reduction in the flow of migrants, the country's economy is also suffering some damage. Thus, the unemployment rate reached 4.6%, the highest level since 2021, and amounted to 6.1 million people, according to a report by the US Department of Labor. The shortage of personnel is most painful for those enterprises and firms in which migrants worked more often. Despite this, Trump, apparently, is not going to turn off his course.