Overview
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the policy on July 23, saying the State Department will refuse visas under Section 212(a)(3)(C) to people responsible for or complicit in cyberscams, sextortion and other cyber-enabled crimes.
- The measure allows visa restrictions to extend to immediate family members of designated individuals, a step the administration says will deter enablers and leaders of transnational scam networks.
- Washington presented the visa curbs as one part of a multi-pronged campaign that will combine visa refusals with economic sanctions, criminal prosecutions, asset seizures and extradition requests coordinated with international law enforcement.
- Officials cited at least $10 billion in U.S. losses from online investment scams in 2024 and pointed to frequent involvement by Chinese-linked transnational criminal organizations while stressing the policy is global in scope.
- The announcement follows President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14390 and comes shortly after a separate July 16 visa policy, but reporters note the State Department has not yet published detailed criteria, designation procedures or target lists for enforcement.