Jerusalem: J2 visas issued

Nonimmigrant visa: Spouse or child of exchange visitor

Visa services may still be limited

In February 2026, the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem and its office in Tel Aviv stopped normal visa services. The State Department has not said if they have started again, so check the embassy's website.

Details

On February 27, 2026, after allowing non-emergency staff to leave Israel, the State Department said that routine visa processing was not currently available at the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem and its Branch Office in Tel Aviv. It said applicants with interviews from March 2 to 6 would get an email about a new date when services started again. The notice is still posted, unchanged, and does not say if services have started again.

The State Department's scheduling tool has since moved the month it gives Jerusalem for spouses, children and parents of U.S. citizens: from February 2026 in its April 2 update to August 2026 in its September 23 update. Check il.usembassy.gov/visas for the embassy's current status.

Source: State Department: Limited Visa Services Available at the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem and Branch Office in Tel Aviv.

Last checked Sep 25, 2026.

Visas suspended for citizens of 39 countries

Since January 1, 2026, the U.S. has stopped giving some or all visas to citizens of 39 countries, and to people with Palestinian Authority travel documents. You can still apply and get an interview, but you may not get a visa.

Details

Presidential Proclamation 10998 has suspended visas since January 1, 2026, with narrow exceptions. It depends on your nationality, not on the embassy.

All visas are suspended for nationals of Afghanistan, Burma, Burkina Faso, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Mali, Niger, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, and for anyone traveling on travel documents issued or endorsed by the Palestinian Authority.

All immigrant visas, and B-1/B-2, F, M and J visas, are suspended for nationals of Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Burundi, Cote d'Ivoire, Cuba, Dominica, Gabon, The Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Togo, Tonga, Venezuela, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

All immigrant visas are suspended for nationals of Turkmenistan.

Spouses, children and parents of U.S. citizens, and Afghan special immigrants, are no longer exempt. You can still apply and be scheduled for an interview, but the State Department says you may not be eligible for a visa. People with two nationalities who apply with the passport of a country not on these lists are exempt.

Source: State Department: Suspension of Visa Issuance to Foreign Nationals to Protect the Security of the United States.

Last checked Sep 25, 2026.

From Mar 2025 to Feb 2026, Jerusalem issued 116 J2 visas, about 10 a month, up 36% from the 12 months before. But it issued only 1 in January and February 2026, against about 12 a month from March to December 2025.

This counts visas issued, which shows how busy the post is, not how long you will wait. The State Department data here ends in February 2026, so it cannot show what has changed since then, such as pauses that started or ended later.

Visas issued per month

Last 3 years

All years

Source: the U.S. Department of State’s monthly nonimmigrant visa issuance statistics.
The monthly counts are stored in JSON lines files on GitHub.