New Presidential Proclamation Extends Travel Restrictions to Additional Countries

On December 16, 2025, President Trump released a new Presidential Proclamation that adds additional countries to the list of existing nations whose citizens face entry restrictions into the U.S. as well as visa issuance restrictions.  The Proclamation builds on prior ones from earlier this year that implemented full entry restrictions (all immigrants and nonimmigrants) for nationals of certain countries and partial restrictions (immigrants and temporary B-1, B‑2, B-1/B-2, F, M, and J visa holders) for others, based on a determination that these are countries where “screening and vetting information [are] so deficient as to warrant a full or partial suspension of the admission of nationals from those countries.”  The Proclamation also cites high crime rates in these nations as well as claims that individuals from these countries have high rates of temporary visa overstays in the U.S., among other reasons.  The new Proclamation extends full restrictions to 19 countries and partial restrictions to 20 countries. The full list is as follows:

• Full Restrictions: (existing) Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen; (new) Burkina Faso, Laos, Mali, Niger, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, and Syria.  A new full restriction also applies to individuals using travel documents issued or endorsed by the Palestinian Authority (PA).
• Partial Restrictions: (existing) Burundi, Cuba, Togo, and Venezuela; (new) Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Cote d ‘Ivoire, Dominica, Gabon, The Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Tonga, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.  The Proclamation lifts the suspension on temporary visa issuance and entry to citizens of Turkmenistan, but maintains the suspension entry into the U.S. of nationals of Turkmenistan as immigrants.

The new restrictions will take effect on January 1, 2026 and will only apply to those that are outside of the U.S. on January 1, 2026 and do not have a valid visa as of that date.

There are exceptions to these restrictions.  The restrictions will not apply to:

(i)  any lawful permanent resident of the United States;

(ii) any dual national of a country designated when the individual is traveling on a passport issued by a country not designated;

(iii) any foreign national traveling with a valid nonimmigrant visa in the following classifications:  A‑1, A-2, C-2, C-3, G-1, G-2, G-3, G-4, NATO-1, NATO‑2, NATO-3, NATO-4, NATO-5, or NATO-6;

(iv) any athlete or member of an athletic team, including the coaches, persons performing a necessary support role, and immediate relatives, traveling for the World Cup, Olympics, or other major sporting event as determined by the Secretary of State;

(v)  Special Immigrant Visas for United States Government employees under 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(27)(D); and

(vi) immigrant visas for ethnic and religious minorities facing persecution in Iran.

Note that these exceptions supersede and replace those listed in the prior Proclamation from June 4, 2025, which means that exceptions listed in the prior Proclamation but not included in the new one will no longer apply generally (including, for example, an exception for those with immigrant visas based on an immediate family relationship or adoption).

Exceptions can also be made on a case-by-case basis for:

1. Individuals for whom the Secretary of State or Homeland Security finds, in their discretion, that travel by the individual “would serve a United States national interest”; and
2. Individuals for whom the Attorney General finds, in her discretion, that travel by the individual “would advance a critical United States national interest involving the Department of Justice, including when individuals must be present to participate in criminal proceedings as witnesses”.

It remains to be seen whether the Trump Administration will extend the current pause on adjudication of immigration benefit requests for those from the “high risk” countries listed in the prior Proclamation to the additional countries named in the new Proclamation.