Australian and US officials are on Nauru to look at individual cases of those held in immigration detention but there's a "long way to go" before any refugees may leave, says Peter Dutton.
The immigration minister's comments come amid a report US officials have delayed interviews with detainees on Nauru in the wake of President Donald Trump's comments around "extreme vetting" and immigration ban.
Detainees applying to settle in America under the refugee deal have reportedly had planned second-round interview dates with US officials postponed indefinitely.
Confusion around exactly what Donald Trump meant in saying the refugees would be subject to "extreme vetting" was the reason behind postponing the interviews, according to an unnamed source in the Reuters report.
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Despite lingering uncertainty over whether America will honour the refugee resettlement deal with Australia, struck with the Obama administration, Mr Dutton said US officials had returned to Nauru as planned.
He said getting refugees out of detention in Nauru was "a difficult juggling act".
"We are keen to get people off there as quickly as possible ... we've got unfinished business," he told 2GB radio on Friday.
"There's a long way to go before we can get people off."
He remains confident the US will honour the deal, which would see America take refugees currently held on Manus Island and Nauru in return for Australia accepting refugees from Central America.
"I take the president at his word. He has given a commitment to our prime minister," Mr Dutton said.
