The Trump administration is significantly expanding its travel ban policy to prevent or highly restrict citizens of nearly 40 countries from entering the United States—including immediate family members of US citizens.
Under the new policy, announced in an executive order from the White House on December 16, 2025, a total of 39 countries will be placed under full or partial US travel restrictions. The new restrictions will go into effect on January 1, 2026.
The new proclamation expands on the US’s existing travel ban, which went into effect in June 2025 and bars citizens of 12 countries from entering the US. The White House says the expanded travel ban is “necessary to prevent the entry of foreign nationals about whom the United States lacks sufficient information to assess the risks they pose,” according to a release.
Under the latest travel ban policy, citizens from an additional five countries will be completely barred from entering the US. Those countries are: Syria, South Sudan, Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso. Individuals holding travel documents issued from the Palestinian Authority are also fully restricted from US entry.
Additionally, two countries that had partial travel restrictions placed on them by the June 2025 policy have now been upgraded to a full travel ban: Laos and Sierra Leone.
Fifteen countries have been issued partial restrictions, which narrowly limit the types of visas issued to their citizens: Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Ivory Coast, Dominica, Gabon, Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Tonga, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Citizens of Burundi, Cuba, Togo, and Venezuela will also continue to face partial travel restrictions.
Turkmenistan previously had partial travel restrictions, however, the nation has “engaged productively with the United States” and “demonstrated significant progress,” according to the White House, so the ban on its nonimmigrant visas has been lifted.
The executive order also tightens up policies for immediate family members of US citizens—including spouses, children, siblings, and parents—who are citizens of countries listed on the travel ban. Previously, immediate family members of US citizens were considered a “broad exception” to visa restrictions.
Individuals with Afghan Special Immigrant Visas, which were primarily issued to those who aided US forces in Afghanistan, are also included in the new ban.
While the new travel ban doesn’t take effect until January 1, 2026, the Trump administration has already moved forward with several actions to tighten travel and immigration restrictions, according to the American Immigration Council (AIC). Those actions include:
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