The State Department has used its discretionary visa-revocation power to strip at least four Iranian nationals—including relatives of slain IRGC commander Qassem Soleimani—of their permission to live, work or enter the United States. In a Saturday statement, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the individuals had “publicly celebrated attacks on Americans” and therefore failed the statutory requirement that entrants be neither a security nor foreign-policy risk. Two of the four—Hamideh Soleimani Afshar and her daughter—were arrested in Los Angeles by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and are being processed for removal. Although visa revocations are not new, doing so against people who already hold lawful-permanent-resident status is exceedingly rare and underscores the second Trump administration’s broader effort to tighten every discretionary immigration lever. Since December the Department has also revoked the visas of several Iranian diplomats assigned to the United Nations, signalling that even quasi-diplomatic immunity offers little protection when Washington wants to send a message to Tehran.
For U.S. businesses the episode is a reminder that employees or investors tied—however distantly—to sanctioned regimes face a higher compliance burden. Global mobility teams should review travel histories and political affiliations when sponsoring green-card or work-visa cases, because abrupt revocations expose firms to workforce gaps and contractual penalties.
![U.S. revokes visas and green cards of high-profile Iranian nationals]()
For companies and travelers looking to stay ahead of these fast-changing rules, VisaHQ maintains an up-to-date U.S. visa portal (https://www.visahq.com/united-states/) that can flag potential red-flag issues early in the process and streamline document preparation. The service helps HR departments, mobility managers and individual applicants navigate shifting eligibility criteria before time and resources are sunk into a case.
Immigration counsel also note that LPRs whose status is rescinded lose work authorization immediately and may trigger I-9 reverification obligations for employers. Practically, companies should prepare contingency plans for talent in high-risk categories: build shadow payroll in third countries, maintain remote-work options and include protective clauses in employment contracts. The latest move suggests that additional rounds of targeted visa cancellations linked to Iran, Russia and proxy actors are likely in the coming months.
For U.S. businesses the episode is a reminder that employees or investors tied—however distantly—to sanctioned regimes face a higher compliance burden. Global mobility teams should review travel histories and political affiliations when sponsoring green-card or work-visa cases, because abrupt revocations expose firms to workforce gaps and contractual penalties.
For companies and travelers looking to stay ahead of these fast-changing rules, VisaHQ maintains an up-to-date U.S. visa portal (https://www.visahq.com/united-states/) that can flag potential red-flag issues early in the process and streamline document preparation. The service helps HR departments, mobility managers and individual applicants navigate shifting eligibility criteria before time and resources are sunk into a case.
Immigration counsel also note that LPRs whose status is rescinded lose work authorization immediately and may trigger I-9 reverification obligations for employers. Practically, companies should prepare contingency plans for talent in high-risk categories: build shadow payroll in third countries, maintain remote-work options and include protective clauses in employment contracts. The latest move suggests that additional rounds of targeted visa cancellations linked to Iran, Russia and proxy actors are likely in the coming months.
