State Department Updates Visa Issuance Suspension for Certain Nationals 

Written By Iandoli Desai & Cronin

On December 16, 2025, The State Department updated its guidance on the full and partial suspension of visa issuances for individuals from certain countries, in alignment with Presidential Proclamation 10998. The Proclamation and guidance added 20 countries to the travel ban, bringing the total to 39 countries.  

Effective January 1, 2026, the United States will fully bar entry and visa issuances to nationals from the following countries: 

  • Afghanistan 

  • Burma (Myanmar) 

  • Burkina Faso 

  • Chad 

  • Republic of the Congo 

  • Equatorial Guinea 

  • Eritrea 

  • Haiti 

  • Iran 

  • Laos 

  • Libya 

  • Mali 

  • Niger 

  • (Individuals traveling with documents from the) Palestinian Authority 

  • Sierra Leone 

  • Somalia 

  • South Sudan 

  • Sudan 

  • Syria 

  • Yemen 

 

The US will also bar entry to immigrants (newly arriving Permanent Residents) and nonimmigrants with B-1, B-2, F, M, and J status from the following countries: 

  • Angola 

  • Antigua and Barbuda 

  • Benin 

  • Burundi 

  • Cote d’Ivoire 

  • Cuba 

  • Dominica (island in the Lesser Antilles; distinct from the Dominican Republic in the Greater Antilles) 

  • Gabon 

  • The Gambia 

  • Malawi 

  • Mauritania 

  • Nigeria 

  • Senegal 

  • Tanzania 

  • Togo 

  • Tonga 

  • Venezuela 

  • Zambia 

  • Zimbabwe 

Additionally, the US will bar entry to all immigrants (newly arriving Permanent Residents) from Turkmenistan. 

See the State Department announcement here, and see a summary from NAFSA here. 

Iandoli Desai & Cronin
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