The US is introducing a new visa procedure that boils down to a simple rule: if you have had any kind of trouble in your home country, or if you fear you will - you are not getting the visa.

This week the State Department sent a directive to every American embassy and consulate. The new mandatory questions are: "Have you experienced harm or abuse in your country of citizenship or last residence?" and "Do you fear harm or abuse upon return to your country of citizenship or permanent residence?"

To continue the procedure, the applicant has to answer "no" to both questions. The goal is to prevent people from using tourist visas to file for asylum after entering the US.

"Consular officers are the first line of defence of American national security," a State Department spokesperson said. It sounds logical. But in practice it means that any citizen of a country with real political or social pressure - Turkey, Iran, Russia, parts of the Balkans, Africa, Latin America - is being put in front of a choice: lie to get the visa, or tell the truth and stay home.

What does this mean for North Macedonia? Not much in the short term, because Macedonian citizens do not apply for American asylum in large numbers. But the symbolism matters. America is no longer "welcoming to those in trouble". That is a direct message. And in the context of how the US is now talking about Germany and Europe, it is one more signal that Washington's world is a world of hard borders, not open doors.

For Balkan families sending their kids to study or work in the US, this collision with the State Department's humanitarian policy is a message. In Trump's new world, even an ordinary tourist can be turned away for having a "complicated life" back home. Who are we to define a complicated life? Apparently - we are not anymore.