The U.S. State Department said Thursday that it will further restrict visas for those involved with cybercrime and sextortion, denying them, and sometimes their relatives, access to the country.
In an announcement that focused on investment scams the Trump administration said were often linked to Chinese transnational criminal groups, the State Department said this was the latest effort to prevent access to the U.S. by those who seek to harm American citizens.
The administration has made multiple changes to immigration rules over the past 18 months, many of which have restricted legal pathways or increased vetting of visa applicants.
“This policy targets individuals responsible for, or complicit in, cybercrime and cyber-enabled crime, such as those involved in cyberscams, and sextortion,” the department said in a press release. “Immediate family members of individuals engaged in such illicit activities may also be subjected to visa restrictions.”
Wider Visa Vetting Efforts
The State Department’s new cybercrime visa policy expands an increasingly common tactic: using visa access as punishment and deterrence against people accused of enabling threats beyond traditional immigration violations.
The department has already used visa restrictions this year against people accused of supporting political violence, undermining regional stability, helping U.S. adversaries in the Western Hemisphere, and maintaining ties to cartel networks. In several of those actions, family members or close associates were also included, mirroring the new cyber policy’s warning that immediate family members may face restrictions.
The policy also comes amid broader efforts to tighten the visa system before and after applications are filed.
The State Department has expanded online-presence vetting for student and exchange visitor applicants, saying every visa adjudication is a national-security decision, and it has expanded visa bonds for some business and tourist applicants from countries associated with overstay risk.
Are Cybercriminals Obtaining Visas?
Public records provide evidence that cyber-enabled crime is frequently transnational and that foreign suspects are being brought into U.S. courts, but they do not show a clear public count of cybercriminals who successfully obtained U.S. visas.
DOJ records include foreign nationals extradited to the United States in cyber-enabled fraud and extortion cases, as well as foreign nationals arrested at U.S. airports in cryptocurrency fraud prosecutions, but those records generally do not specify whether defendants held valid U.S. visas.
The State Department separately says thousands of people illegally attempt to obtain U.S. visas each year to commit crimes or flee prosecution, but it does not publish a cybercrime-specific breakdown.
Washington’s China Concerns
The new visa restrictions arrive amid growing concern in Washington about the cyber threat posed by China, which U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies have repeatedly described as one of the most sophisticated and persistent foreign cyber challenges facing the country.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) says Chinese government-linked actors have targeted government, telecommunications, transportation, and critical infrastructure networks, with operations extending beyond traditional espionage and into efforts that could potentially disrupt essential services.
U.S. officials have drawn particular attention to cyber campaigns known as “Salt Typhoon” and “Volt Typhoon.”
According to CISA, FBI, and NSA assessments, Chinese-linked actors associated with those campaigns have sought long-term access to telecommunications and other critical infrastructure networks, enabling intelligence collection and potentially positioning themselves to disrupt key systems in a future crisis. The agencies have said such activity reflects a broader strategy of embedding within critical networks rather than carrying out short-term intrusions.
The FBI has previously accused actors linked to the “Salt Typhoon” campaign of compromising telecommunications providers and conducting a significant cyberespionage operation that affected communications infrastructure. In a recent advisory, the bureau said Chinese-affiliated actors had targeted telecommunications networks globally and urged organizations to strengthen defenses against long-term infiltration efforts.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Gabe Whisnant and Sam Wilson.
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