Expanded U.S. Travel Ban & Immigration Benefit Restrictions Effective January 1, 2026

Effective January 1, 2026, the White House significantly expanded two existing entry and benefit restrictions:

Expansion of Travel Ban

Effective January 1, 2026, the White House implemented a presidential proclamation expanding its previous  U.S. Travel Ban .

The scope of the ban applies prospectively to foreign nationals who:

• Are outside the U.S. on the effective date, and
• Do not possess a valid visa on the effective date.

Country-Specific Restrictions, With New Additions Bolded:

Full Entry Suspension:  Applies to both nonimmigrant and immigrant visa holders in all categories who are solely nationals of:

• Afghanistan
• Burma
• Burkina Faso
• Chad
• Republic of Congo
• Equatorial Guinea
• Eritrea
• Haiti
• Iran
• Laos
• Libya
• Mali
• Niger
• Sierra Leone
• Somalia
• South Sudan
• Sudan
• Syria
• Yemen
• Individuals traveling on Palestinian Authority documents

Partial Entry Suspension: Restricts new immigrant visas, as well as B (visitor), F (student), M (vocational), and J (exchange visitor) visas for those who are solely nationals of:

• Angola
• Antigua and Barbuda
• Benin
• Burundi
• Côte d’Ivoire 
• Cuba
• Dominica
• Gabon
• The Gambia
• Malawi
• Mauritania
• Nigeria
• Senegal
• Tanzania
• Togo
• Tonga
• Turkmenistan (Restrictions only to new immigrant visas)
• Venezuela
• Zambia
• Zimbabwe

For all other nonimmigrant visas, Consular Officers are directed to limit visa validity, likely to the shortest period permitted under the Visa Reciprocity Schedule.

Changes to Exceptions

Several prior exceptions created under the June 2025 travel ban have been removed, including:

• Immediate relative immigrant visas (IR-1/CR-1, IR-2/CR-2, IR-5), even with DNA or other evidence
• Adoption-based immigrant visas (IR-3, IR-4, IH-3, IH-4)
• Afghan Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs)

Dual-national exceptions remain in place, though family-based carve-outs have been narrowed.

 

Separate USCIS Policy: Pause on Immigration Benefit Adjudications for “High-Risk Countries”

Separately, USCIS issued a policy memo on December 2, 2025 pausing the adjudication of certain immigration benefit applications filed by individuals from the designated “19 high-risk countries,” which aligned with the countries covered by the earlier travel ban then in effect. The memo directed a “thorough re-review process,” pending enhanced security review that may include an interview. This policy applied to applicants based on country of birth or country of citizenship and did not provide any exceptions for dual nationals.

This policy applies to applicants for:

• Form I-485 (Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status),
• Form I-90 (Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card (Green Card)),
• Form N-470 (Application to Preserve Residence for Naturalization Purposes),
• Form I-751, (Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence), and
• Form I-131 (Application for Travel Documents, Parole Documents, and Arrival/Departure Records).

As of January 1, 2026, USCIS issued a subsequent memo confirming that this adjudicative pause has been expanded to match the updated list of countries subject to the travel ban.

As a result:

• Individuals newly affected by the expanded entry restrictions may now also experience delays in pending USCIS benefit applications
• Applicants previously unaffected by USCIS processing holds may now be impacted, even if they remain eligible to enter the U.S. using a non-restricted passport

For individuals from impacted countries, individualized legal review is strongly recommended before travel or filing new immigration applications.

We will continue to closely monitor developments and will share updates as the situation