Frustration in China as US freezes green card interviews worldwide, citing ‘training’

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Cite

Razdan, K., & Jiaxuan, C. (2026, August 26). Frustration in China as US freezes green card interviews worldwide, citing ‘training’. South China Morning Post. https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3365330/frustration-china-us-freezes-green-card-interviews-worldwide-citing-training?utm_source=rss_feed

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

South China Morning Post · collected 2026-08-26 · by Khushboo Razdan, Cao Jiaxuan

Quick Summary

US consulates worldwide, including those in China, are cancelling green card interviews citing "training" as the reason, causing frustration among applicants. According to an anonymous visa agent, multiple clients scheduled for interviews this week have had their appointments cancelled via email and will be rescheduled later. So far, only interviews set for early next week have been affected, while those scheduled for late September remain unchanged. The cancellations are the latest in a series of setbacks for legal immigration under US President Donald Trump's second term.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-08-26, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

The Trump administration has halted immigrant visa interviews worldwide, citing a global training program for diplomatic missions as the reason. This move is part of President Donald Trump's efforts to overhaul immigration policies and enhance national security. Visa interviews at U.S. embassies and consulates have been temporarily suspended, with applicants scheduled for interviews later this week receiving emails cancelling their appointments and rescheduling them for a later date. The administration has also taken steps to cancel visas and permanent residency status, as well as turning down applications linked to certain political views, such as pro-Palestinian demonstrations targeting Israel's military actions in Gaza. This decision comes after a U.S. judge blocked a policy that would halt immigrant visas for individuals from 75 nations, ruling that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had exceeded his legal authority by issuing the suspension. People in China are expressing frustration and disbelief over the cancellation, with some reporting that they were notified too late to cancel travel plans.

Written for “US Freezes Immigrant Visas” on 2026-10-16, grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 US Freezes Immigrant Visas
Politics · 2 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans right and hedges 14% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
The Independent
⚖️ Leans right 🔴 18% hedged 2 of 11 📰 publisher trust 59
“Both articles report on the same action by the Trump administration (halting immigrant visa interviews worldwide) at the same time, with almost identical timestamps”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
7
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
14%
1 of 7 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans right
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
64/100
South China Morning Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
2
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-08-26 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

South China Morning Post · 2428 article(s) · 6 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 6 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Khushboo Razdan
23 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
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Cao Jiaxuan
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Topics

American China Guangzhou the United States

Subjects

China GPE · 2× Guangzhou GPE · 2× American NORP · 1× Donald Trump’s PERSON · 1× the United States GPE · 1×

Narrative

The cancelled appointments mark the latest squeeze in a tightening vice on legal immigration during Donald Trump’s second term People in China reacted with frustration and disbelief after American consulates around the world began cancelling immigrant visa interviews – the latest setback for applicants waiting to enter the United States legally.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-08-26
🔮 According to the agent, who declined to be named because they were not authorised to speak to the media, multiple clients scheduled for interviews later this week were notified via email that their appointments had been cancelled and would be rescheduled at a later date.
2026-08-26 · South China Morning Post
Frustration in China as US freezes green card interviews worldwide, citing ‘training’ · assertive framing

Claims (7 extracted, 1 hedged)

Frustration in China as US freezes green card interviews worldwide, citing ‘training’ asserted
US → freeze → training
The cancelled appointments mark the latest squeeze in a tightening vice on legal immigration during Donald Trump’s second term People in China reacted with frustration and disbelief after American consulates around the world began cancelling immigrant visa interviews – the latest setback for applicants waiting to enter the United States legally. asserted
consulates → cancel → States
According to the agent, who declined to be named because they were not authorised to speak to the media, multiple clients scheduled for interviews later this week were notified via email that their appointments had been cancelled and would be rescheduled at a later date. uncertain
appointments → accord → date
The agent said visa appointments scheduled for late September remained unaffected for now, though applicants were advised to monitor their emails for updates. asserted
applicants → say → updates
“It’s not just Guangzhou; similar situations have also been reported at other consulates around the world,” the agent said. asserted
agent → ’ → world
Internet users shared their experiences, with one saying the notification came when he was already at the consulate. asserted
he → share → consulate
Another said he arrived in Guangzhou only to find his interview had been cancelled. asserted
interview → say → Guangzhou
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