**Bangkok, Thailand – **For Thai national Khaochat Mankong, 2026 was meant to be the biggest year of her life.
After filing the necessary paperwork with the United States embassy in Bangkok, Khaochat, 27, was poised to start a new life with her American husband in California.
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Last week, Khaochat watched those plans evaporate in an instant as US President Donald Trump’s administration announced an indefinite pause on the processing of immigrant visa applications from 75 countries, including Thailand.
The US Department of State said it had suspended applications for the targetted countries because their migrants claimed welfare benefits at “unacceptable rates”.
“I’m shocked; I never thought they would interfere with permanent visas or marriage visas,” Khaochat, an English tutor in Bangkok, told Al Jazeera.
“But now everything has to be paused for who knows how many years.”
Khaochat said she had hoped to raise a family in the US and had no intention of claiming any welfare benefits.
“If they want to screen people, then test language ability, check financial accounts,” she said. “I have the language skills, I have money. Why should I be blocked from living with the person I love?”
Similar stories of punctured dreams have flooded Thai social media in recent days.
Married couples have expressed fears of being separated for the long term or having their children denied the right to stay.
Prospective migrant workers have also voiced their dismay at the changes, which have put a freeze on EB-class employment visas as well as the K-class spousal and dependent visas.
Songtham Artsomjit, 26, said he could no longer see a pathway to the US after paying a Thai agency $800 to start the paperwork for an EB-3 unskilled work visa.