The U.S. is expanding its travel restrictions once again. On December 4, 2025, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced that the administration plans to broaden the existing travel ban to include immediate family members of U.S. citizens from nearly 40 countries.
The updated policy, issued via an executive order on December 16, 2025, now places 39 countries under full or partial travel restrictions. These rules officially took effect on January 1, 2026. According to the White House, the expanded ban aims to “prevent the entry of foreign nationals about whom the United States lacks sufficient information to assess the risks they pose.”
Under Proclamation 10998, a complete ban applies to immigrants and all nonimmigrant categories from 20 countries and entities. This includes previously restricted nations as well as several new additions.
Countries under full entry ban: Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Burma (Myanmar), Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Mali, Niger, Palestinian Authority Travel Documents, Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.
Nationals of these countries — along with holders of Palestinian Authority travel documents — are barred from entering the U.S. as both immigrants and nonimmigrants.
Partial entry ban: Limits apply to specific visa categories for an additional 20 countries. Immigrants and travelers applying for B-1, B-2, B-1/B-2, F, M, and J visas from these nations face restrictions. The affected countries include Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, Dominica, Gabon, The Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Togo, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Venezuela, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
For Turkmenistan, the restrictions apply only to immigrants, while nonimmigrant visa categories remain unaffected. For all nations under the partial ban, consular officers are instructed to issue other nonimmigrant visas with the shortest validity legally permissible.
The expanded travel restrictions reflect the U.S. government’s ongoing effort to carefully assess entry risks, with significant implications for travelers from the affected countries.
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