Affected candidates will receive instructions by email to reschedule their appointment, the embassy said in a message on X.
Police stand guard outside the US consulate in Karachi. Photo: file
The US Embassy in Islamabad has extended the suspension of its visa services until March 20, canceling all scheduled visa appointments while continuing to provide “routine and emergency services” to US citizens.
“All immigrant and non-immigrant visa appointments are canceled until March 20. Affected visa applicants will receive instructions via email to reschedule their appointments,” it said in a post on X.
The U.S. Embassy Islamabad continues to serve U.S. citizens requiring routine and emergency services.
All immigrant and non-immigrant visa appointments are canceled until March 20. Affected visa applicants will receive email instructions to reschedule their… pic.twitter.com/ocKQQ1un04– US Embassy Islamabad (@usembislamabad) March 13, 2026
Additionally, all consular services at the US Consulates General in Karachi and Lahore remain suspended.
The suspension comes as the US-Israeli war against Iran approaches its second week, with more than 2,000 people killed, mostly in Iran by joint US-Israeli strikes. Nearly 700 people have been killed by Israeli attacks in Lebanon, where Israel targeted central Beirut and ordered residents to leave part of southern Lebanon.
The Israeli army warned on Friday that it would strike two areas of the Iranian capital, Tehran, Villa and Moniriyeh, and asked residents to evacuate.
Read: Clashes between police and protesters in Karachi after death of Iranian Khamenei in US-Israeli strike
“In the coming hours, the IDF will operate in these areas, as it has done in recent days across Iran, to strike military infrastructure belonging to the Iranian regime. Dear citizens, for your safety and well-being, we ask you to immediately evacuate the marked area,” the army posted on its Persian account on X, attaching maps of the affected neighborhoods.
Earlier Thursday, Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei issued his first comments, read by a television presenter, vowing to keep the Strait of Hormuz closed and calling on neighboring countries to close U.S. bases on their territory or risk Iran targeting them.
“I assure everyone that we will not neglect to avenge the blood of your martyrs,” he said. Iranian officials said he was lightly injured in the initial strikes.
Leaders of Iran, Israel and the United States have all expressed defiance and pledged to continue the fight as the war in the Middle East approaches its two-week mark on Friday, killing thousands, disrupting the lives of millions more and shaking financial markets.
