Prince Harry’s U.S. visa documents are set to be made public this week, following a months-long legal battle.
The Duke of Sussex moved to the United States from the UK in 2020 with his wife Meghan, after stepping back from their royal duties.
US conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation has pushed for documents that allowed him entry to be revealed, and successfully appealed a September ruling that there was no substantial public interest in doing so.
Here’s what we know about the case, and what could be revealed when the visa papers are made public this week.
Why are Harry’s documents being made public?
The case came about when right-wing The Heritage Foundation sought to find out whether Harry had lied on his immigration paperwork about past drug use, or whether he had received special treatment to enter the US.
The foundation argued there was “intense public interest” in knowing whether the Duke of Sussex had been truthful, after his 2023 memoir Spare revealed he had used cocaine, marijuana, and psychedelic mushrooms in the past.
Heritage’s attorney Samuel Dewey previously said if he lied, Harry could be deported. “People are routinely deported for lying on immigration forms,” he previously said.
Why is the judge releasing them?
Judge Carl Nichols initially ruled in September 2024 that there was minimal public interest in making Harry’s visa documents public.
The ruling came after the Department of Homeland Security rejected an FOI request from The Heritage Foundation.
But in February, the department agreed to release redacted versions of the forms, as long as the disclosure would not violate Harry’s privacy.
Judge Nicholes said during a February hearing that he wanted “maximum disclosure as long as it doesn’t violate privacy,” and in court documents dated 15 March, he directed the Department of Homeland Security to release redacted versions of the documents by Tuesday this week.
What has Harry said?
Prince Harry moved to California with his wife Meghan in 2020 after stepping down as senior royals, as his relationship with his family, including his father King Charles III and his brother Prince William, continued to deteriorate.
The prince has since been increasingly open about the details of his private life. In his memoir Spare, Harry wrote he first started taking cocaine when he was 17 years old “to feel different” and said “it wasn’t very fun”, but said marijuana “really did help me” deal with trauma.
The Duke of Sussex has said he plans to stay in the U.S. for good.
“I very much enjoy living here and bringing my kids up here,” he said in an interview with the New York Times.
What has Trump said about it?
President Donald Trump previously said he would not deport Prince Harry over the visa saga, taking a jab at Meghan in the process
“I don’t want to do that,” he told the New York Post in February. “I’ll leave him alone. He’s got enough problems with his wife. She’s terrible.”
Trump’s son Eric previously said his father loved the Queen and the British monarchy, and the president was also fond of King Charles.
“I can tell you that our father and our entire family has tremendous respect for the monarchy,” he told The Daily Mail late last year.
What detail could Prince Harry’s immigration documents contain?
The release documents will have redactions, so it is unclear whether The Heritage Foundation will find the detail it has been seeking for about two years now.
In February, a US government attorney complained the documents would be a “shell” after the redaction process, after Judge Nichols asked the Department of Homeland Security to suggest redactions or “continued withholdings” to the forms. The documents could detail what visa the Prince used to enter the US.
Experts have speculated that Harry could have used an ‘A-1 Head of State’ visa which comes with less stringent security checks, and would have allowed Harry to come and go from the US frequently with no limit on the duration of his stay, an immigration expert previously told The Daily Mail.
Could Prince Harry lose his US visa?
Whatever the documents say, and given Trump’s previous comments, it seems Harry will likely be safe to continue living in the U.S.
Harry confirmed he was a resident of the US last year through paperwork filed by a travel company majority owned by him.
The U.S. routinely asks about drug use on visa applications, and while it can make entering the country difficult for some – including model Kate Moss – it does not automatically bar people from travelling to or staying in the U.S.
