Last updated: April 12, 2018
The U.S. has lifted its travel ban for citizens of Chad after the African country improved its security standards. Citizens of Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria and Yemen and some government officials from Venezuela are still subject to the ban that was first issued in September 2017.
The White House has published a list of frequently asked questions about the restrictions.
Here’s a summary of what this could mean for corporate travelers:
- The rules would not apply to legal permanent residents of the United States; dual nationals of any of the designated countries who are traveling on a passport issued by a non-designated country; or foreign nationals traveling on a diplomatic or diplomatic-type visa, a North Atlantic Treaty Organization visa, a C-2 visa for travel to the United Nations or a G-1, G-2, G-3 or G-4 visa.
- Visitors who currently hold valid visas from the affected countries would not have their visas revoked.
- Employees of businesses in the United States who are from the targeted countries may stay for as long as their existing visas remain valid. People from these countries whose visas expire would be subject to the travel ban, according to a report from the New York Times that cites administration officials.
- Iraqi citizens may face restrictions or heightened scrutiny if they seek to visit the U.S.
- The new rules were scheduled to take effect on October 2017, but a U.S. judge from Hawaii blocked the Trump administration from implementing the ban. A federal judge in Maryland also ruled against the presidential order. The Trump administration appealed the decision in December 2017, and the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to hear the case this spring.
In July 2017, the U.S. lifted a different set of restrictions, first issued in March, that banned laptops and other large personal electronic devices from cabins of flights headed to the U.S. from 10 airports and via nine airlines in the Middle East and North Africa. A statement on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s website notes the affected airports and airlines have “successfully implemented the first phase of enhanced security measures.”
