Travel Ban 3.0: New (and Indefinite) Restrictions

In response to the expiration of Executive Order 13780, which imposed travel restrictions on certain countries, the Trump administration unveiled new travel restrictions on foreigners from Chad, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen. Notably, Sudan has been removed from the list of countries whose nationals have been barred entry from the US. Rather than sign another executive order, President Trump submitted Presidential Proclamation titled “Enhancing Vetting Capabilities and Processes for Detecting Attempted Entry Into the United States by Terrorists or Other Public-Safety Threats.”

The central focus of the proclamation is to implement anew the travel restrictions on nationals from certain countries. Below is a chart of the seven countries and who are barred. Please note that the suspensions are indefinite.

Name of Country	Who is barred from entering the United States?
Chad	All immigrants; Nonimmigrants on B-1, B-2, and B-1/B-2 visas
Iran	All immigrants; Nonimmigrants except those on valid F, M, or J visas
Libya	All immigrants; Nonimmigrants on B-1, B-2, and B-1/B-2 visas
North Korea	All immigrants and nonimmigrants
Syria	All immigrants and nonimmigrants
Venezuela	Venezuelan government officials and their family members attempting to enter the US as nonimmigrants on a B-1, B-2, and B-1/B-2 visa
Yemen	All immigrants; Nonimmigrants on B-1, B-2, and B-1/B-2 visas
Somalia	All immigrants; Additional scrutiny (undefined what methods will be used) to ensure nonimmigrants have no ties to terrorist organizations

Furthermore, the proclamation declares that the rule applies to foreign nationals who:

Are outside the United States after the effective date;
Do not have a valid visa before the effective date;
Do not qualify for a visa or other valid travel document before the effective date.
- The travel document in question is one given to any individual whose visa was revoked or canceled due to Executive Order 13769. This travel document permits travel to the US under the terms and conditions of the visas marked revoked or canceled.

The proclamation provides two separate dates for when the rules begin to apply. They are as follows:

Restrictions and limitations began on September 24^th at 3:30 pm for those foreign nationals who were previously subject to the travel ban, and/or those foreign nationals who lack a credible claim of bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the US.
Restrictions and limitations will begin on October 18^th for all other foreign nationals listed above

The proclamation will not apply to any visas granted before the applicable effective date for individuals from the above mentioned countries.

Furthermore, case-by-case waivers may be granted if it is demonstrated that:

Denying entry would cause the foreign national undue hardship;
Entry would not pose a threat to the national security or public safety of the US; and
Entry would be in the national interest of the US.

The Secretary of State and the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security are to set forth guidelines detailing how USCIS and CBP officers will process these waivers and what “national interest” and “threat to national security” mean in relation to immigration.

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