Effective February 21, 2020, a proclamation issued by President Trump on January 31 imposes certain visa and travel restrictions on citizens from six countries not already listed in the President’s three previous travel ban proclamations.
The six countries with new travel restrictions are:
| Burma | Nigeria |
| Eritrea | Sudan |
| Kyrgyzstan | Tanzania |
No Diversity Visa for Sudanese and Tanzanians
With respect to two of the above-listed countries—Sudan and Tanzania—the President only removed their passport holders’ eligibility to apply to immigrate to the US through the Diversity Visa Program (aka green card lottery).
Immigrant visa restrictions
For the other four countries—Burma, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, and Nigeria—the President imposed travel restrictions on immigrant visas. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reports that the President’s proclamation applies only to intending immigrants abroad who have not yet received an immigrant visa.
Exceptions
DHS reports that the proclamation imposes no restrictions on nonimmigrant visas for citizens of any of these countries. B-2 tourists, F-1 students, H-1B workers and all other nonimmigrant visa holders are not banned from travel to the US.
DHS further reports that intending immigrants abroad who have a valid immigrant visa but have not yet entered the US may still do so and that lawful permanent residents already granted green card status are not impacted by the proclamation.
It is unclear from the proclamation or DHS’s clarifying remarks how the proclamation will impact prospective immigrants already living in the US on nonimmigrant visas. Prior travel ban-related proclamations were later interpreted by DHS as not applying to foreign nationals who had already entered the US prior to said proclamation.
The full text of the proclamation can be viewed here. DHS’s travel and visa restrictions prepared remarks can be found at DHS website.
For further information, please contact your Dentons lawyer.
