On June 4, 2025, President Trump signed Presidential Proclamation 10949, “Restricting the Entry of Foreign Nationals to Protect the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public-Safety Threats.” The order, issued under Immigration and Nationality Act § 212(f), became operative at 12:01 a.m. EDT on June 9, 2025, reviving a policy model first tested in 2017 and upheld by the Supreme Court in Trump v. Hawaii. It directs consular and border officers to deny both immigrant and non-immigrant admission to certain nationals unless they fall within stated exceptions or obtain a discretionary national-interest waiver.
US entry restrictions from June 9
The proclamation divides 19 countries into two tiers.
For twelve states – Afghanistan, Burma (Myanmar), Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen – the entry of all immigrants and non-immigrants is “fully suspended.”
For a further seven – Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela – entry is suspended for immigrants and for temporary visitors in the B-1/B-2 business-tourist category as well as F-1, M-1 and J-1 student and exchange visa classes. Other visa types remain theoretically available, but consular officers are directed to shorten their validity “to the extent permitted by law.”
The Administration justified the designations by citing high visa-overstay rates, weak identity documents, poor information-sharing and, in some cases, state sponsorship of terrorism.
Exemptions
By its own terms the ban applies only to nationals of the listed countries who were outside the United States on June 9, 2025, and lacked a valid visa on that date. It neither cancels previously issued visas nor applies to US lawful permanent residents.
Additional categorical exemptions cover dual nationals traveling on a non-designated passport, diplomatic and international-organisation visa holders, immediate-relative immigrant visas, certain World Cup and Olympic athletes, selected special-immigrant classes and persons already admitted as refugees or granted asylum.
A separate clause allows the Attorney General or Secretary of State to waive the bar case-by-case where a trip is deemed to advance a critical or broader US national interest.
Consular posts have been instructed that any waiver request must pass through Washington for concurrence, though detailed adjudication guidance has not yet been published.
Impact of the entry restrictions
For travelers today, the practical consequences are immediate. Nationals of the twelve fully banned countries cannot obtain new visas of any kind absent a waiver, and airline system checks now trigger automatic “no-board” instructions if they present passports from those states without an approved waiver annotation. Nationals of the seven partially banned countries face an additional barrier if they seek to visit, study or participate in exchange programmes, and they are reporting sharply reduced appointment availability as consulates recalibrate resources.
Even where a visa is theoretically issuable, such as an H-1B for a Cuban engineer, validity may be cut to three months or a single entry, requiring more frequent re-applications.
Carriers have begun treating third-country transits as an insufficient workaround because US Customs and Border Protection relies on passenger manifest data, not embarkation point, to trigger the bar.
The State Department has advised travelers who already hold valid visas to carry proof of issuance date to pre-empt mistaken refusals at the gate.
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The proclamation orders a rolling review of the suspensions every 90 days. As such, looking ahead, the list of countries and the scope of each suspension could narrow or expand before the autumn. It also singles out Egypt for a fresh security and information sharing assessment, meaning more designations could possibly follow.
Travelers from affected nations should assume protracted visa timelines. Where a waiver may be available, dossiers should be filed early where viable. Employers and universities should review workforce and enrolment contingencies, including remote work or study options, for personnel who cannot enter under the new regime.
To discuss your options to travel to the US, contact our US immigration attorneys.
Author
Founder & Principal Attorney Nita Nicole Upadhye is a recognized leader in the field of US business immigration law, (The Legal 500, Chambers & Partners, Who's Who Legal and AILA) and an experienced and trusted advisor to large multinational corporates through to SMEs. She provides strategic immigration advice and specialist application support to corporations and professionals, entrepreneurs, investors, artists, actors and athletes from across the globe to meet their US-bound talent mobility needs.
Nita is an active public speaker, thought leader, immigration commentator, and immigration policy contributor and regularly hosts training sessions for employers and HR professionals.
