The administration’s Travel Ban prevents foreign-nationals from countries deemed to have inadequate security measures in place. As of April 2018 these countries included Iran, Libya, North Korea, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen. On January 31, 2020 the president issued another Presidential Proclamation expanding the latest iteration of the Travel Ban to now include the following six countries: Burma (Myanmar), Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria, Sudan, and Tanzania. This ban only restricts those seeking to move to the U.S. permanently, whereas the government should still permit individuals who want to come to the U.S. for temporary work, school, or tourism. This update to the Travel Ban will go into effect February 21, 2020.
In addition, because of the recent coronavirus outbreak, the administration has announced a temporary ban on foreign-nationals entering the United States who have visited China in the last two weeks. Furthermore, any U.S. citizen who has been in the Hubei Provence of China within the last two weeks will be required to undergo a mandatory quarantine upon re-entering the U.S. American citizens who have traveled throughout mainland China will undergo screening at U.S. ports of entry and may require 14 days of “self-monitoring.” This ban is currently in effect. We recommend that individuals considering upcoming travel to China be aware both of the dangers of the outbreak, as well as the potential issues you might face trying to re-enter the U.S. We do not yet know how long this temporary ban will last.
We understand that the restrictions above are cause for concern for many. We will continue to monitor these bans and update our clients as we receive additional information.