President Trump announces travel ban on 19 countries

In a Presidential proclamation issued on June 4th and entitled ‘Restricting the entry of foreign nationals to protect the United States from foreign terrorists and other national security and public safety threats’, President Trump set out countries that will be affected by the ban coming into force on 9th June.

The 12 countries fully banned are: Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

Meanwhile, the entry into the USA of immigrants and non-immigrants on B-1, B‑2, B-1/B-2, F, M, and J visas is suspended from a further seven countries: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.

Nationals from those countries who are outside of the USA and have a valid visa on the effective date of the proclamation (9th June 2025) are excepted from the measures.

There are also a range of exceptions in special cases, including dual nationals with a passport from a non-affected country. See here for full details.

Picture credit – Chip Somodevilla – Shutterstock.

In the proclamation, President Trump outlines the reasons and perceived threats from each country listed, including the overstay rate of nationals on student visas from a report by the Department of Homeland Security, which for Equatorial Guinea was as high as 70 per cent.

Iran is by far the largest source market affected. There were 12,430 international students from Iran at higher education colleges and universities in the USA in the 2023/24 academic year, according to the latest Open Doors report, a 15 per cent increase over the previous year.

The latest travel ban was flagged as a likely policy action on President Trump’s first day in office, when he signed executive orders asking relevant departments to examine visa vetting and screening to see which countries might warrant suspension.

During his first administration in 2017, President Trump issued a sudden order banning all travel from certain countries including Iran, Iraq and Libya, although after legal challenges and revisions F-1 visa students were in most cases still allowed to enter the USA. President Biden rescinded the travel ban in 2021 as one of his first actions in office.

Although the number of international students affected was relatively small, the international education industry was critical of the reputational damage caused by the travel ban.

Commenting on the latest ban, the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and immigration said that its was based on unreliable overstay data and urged the government to rescind the ban.

Miriam Feldblum, President and CEO, said, “Higher education institutions are firmly committed to protecting our national security, but this ban does not accomplish that goal. Rather, it will undermine our global standing and harm our economic competitiveness. This announcement will create further chaos and uncertainty for international education, our country’s seventh largest service export.”

She added, “Actions like this limit and deter international students and scholars from choosing the U.S., resulting in higher tuition rates and potential disruptions to academic programs for all students, as well as losses for local businesses.”

In recent weeks, Harvard University had its Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification revoked, new student visa interviews have been suspended around the world while the Department of Homeland Security finalises new social media vetting guidelines, and the Optional Practical Training (OPT) post-study work stream has been threatened.