Quick Takeaways
- Nationals from 19 countries either wholly or partially prohibited from entering United States as of June 9, 2025
- Nationals of Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen face full prohibition
- Nationals of Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela face partial probation
- Only applicable to foreign nationals outside the United States who are not in possession of valid visa as of effective date
- Exceptions for U.S. Lawful Permanent Residents, dual nationals traveling on different passport, certain immigrant visa holders, and others
On June 4, 2025, President Donald J. Trump issued an Executive Order that seeks to either partially or completely limit the entry of foreign nationals from 19 countries. These limitations will be reviewed within 90 days of their effective date, and thereafter every 180 days, to determine whether the list should be expanded, contracted, or otherwise re-organized. Likewise, while not subject to the to-be-discussed entry limitations, recent events led the Executive Order to specifically call-out Egypt as a country that may be added to the list down the road.
According to the Executive Order, as of 12:01AM EDT on June 9, 2025, both immigrants and nonimmigrants from the following 12 countries will be forbidden from entering the United States:
- Afghanistan
- Burma
- Chad
- Republic of the Congo
- Equatorial Guinea
- Eritrea
- Haiti
- Iran
- Libya
- Somalia
- Sudan
- Yemen
At the same time, immigrants and B-1, B-2, B-1/B-2, F, M, and J nonimmigrants from the following 7 countries will be partially prohibited from entering the United States:
- Burundi
- Cuba
- Laos
- Sierra Leone
- Togo
- Turkmenistan
- Venezuela
The Executive Order makes clear that it only applies to foreign nationals from one of the above-listed countries who, as of 12:01AM EDT on June 9, 2025, are:
- (a) Outside the United States; and
- (b) Not in possession of a valid immigrant or nonimmigrant visa.
This carveout’s use of “and” indicates that both conditions must be met for a foreign national to fall within this Executive Order’s limitations: the individual must be outside the United States and they must not have a valid visa. In addition, clause (b)’s use of “a” before “valid visa” suggests the “valid visa” in the foreign national’s possession need not be a specific classification – it merely needs to be valid. Accordingly, plain reading of the Executive Order should be that a foreign national from any of the 19 countries listed above should not be limited in their ability to apply for a visa and/or enter the United States so long as they either were in the United States or had any valid visa at the time the Executive Order goes into effect. For these reasons, this Executive Order, on its face, appears as though it will most acutely and negatively impact certain first-time visa applicants from one of the 19 countries the President named.
The Executive Order, however, further reduces the foreign nationals whose entry to the United States may be limited in whole or in part by listing the following exceptions:
- (a) U.S. Lawful Permanent Residents (i.e., green card holders);
- (b) Dual nationals of one of the 19 countries traveling on the passport of a country that does not appear on the list;
- (c) Nonimmigrants holding A-1, A-2, C-2, C-3, G-1, G-2, G-3, G-4, NATO-1, NATO-2, NATO-3, NATO-4, NATO-5, or NATO-6 Visas;
- (d) Athletes or members of athletic teams – including but not limited to coaches and support personnel – as well as their immediate relatives, traveling to the United States for the World Cup, Olympics, and other Secretary-of-State-designated major sporting events;
- (e) Immediate family immigrant visas (IR-1/CR-1, IR-2/CR-2, IR-5) with clear and convincing evidence of identity and family relationship (such as a DNA test);
- (f) Adoptions (IR-3, IR-4, IH-3, IH-4);
- (g) Afghan Special Immigrant Visas;
- (h) Special Immigrant Visas for United States Government employees; and
- (i) Immigrant visas for ethnic and religious minorities facing persecution in Iran.
The Executive Order also provides for case-by-case exceptions to be granted by the Secretary of State or Attorney General should they determine that the entry of a foreign national otherwise subject to the above-described limitations would be in the United States’ national interest.
Unlike prior Trump travel bans, this Executive Order seeks to justify imposing the complete or partial bans on certain foreign nationals from named countries based on research and analysis carried-out over the last 4 months. In fact, the Executive Order provides a country-specific explanation for the limitations being placed on it that may appear facially rational and, therefore, may be difficult to successfully challenge in federal court.
That being said, there are several curiosities within the Executive Order that could open it up to legal challenge. To begin, the incongruity of stating that diplomats from countries that the Order claims have no reliable central authority are nevertheless permitted to continue traveling to the United States. Further, curtailing fans of nations participating in the World Cup (e.g., Iran) and/or the Olympics contradicts the promises the U.S. government made when agreeing to host these events. Also, the Executive Order cites visitor and student overstay statistics to support not only banning B-1, B-2, B-1/B-2, and F, M, and J nonimmigrants from entering the United States, but to also and unrelatedly ban immigrants from entering the United States. Even more, there are serious doubts as to the government’s ability to accurately account for F, J, and M overstays and concerns over whether the figures cited are over-estimates of the actual quantity. Lastly, the Executive Order does not explain its thresholds for classifying a country as falling within the complete or partial entry ban – i.e., the minimum ratio of overstays that will land a country on one of these lists, if either – or what metrics they must achieve to downgrade their prohibitions or altogether remove them from the Executive Order’s purview. As such, federal lawsuits could be filed and could potentially delay and/or limit the Executive Order’s implementation.
We will continue to monitor this situation and provide updates as they come available. In the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact our office if you have any questions regarding this Executive Order or any other immigration-related matter.
