Travel Ban Upheld by Supreme Court

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Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision upholding Version 3.0 of the Trump Travel Ban, which imposed travel restrictions on certain individuals from Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen for an indefinite period of time.  

In siding with the Trump Administration, the Court ruled that the President possesses broad powers to suspend the entry of foreign nationals to the U.S. if their entry would be detrimental to the national interests, and it said that the travel restrictions outlined in Version 3.0 of the Trump Travel Ban were rationally related to U.S. national security objectives.

Travel Restriction Summary

Until the Trump Administration finds that the seven Travel Ban countries has met baseline security requirements, certain individuals from the seven Travel Ban countries will continue to be subject to the following travel restrictions:

IRAN: No nonimmigrant visas except F/M student visas and J exchange visitor visas; no immigrant or diversity lottery visas.

LIBYA:  No B-1, B-2 or B-1/B-2 visitor visas; no immigrant or diversity lottery visas.

NORTH KOREA:  No nonimmigrant, immigrant or diversity lottery visas.

SOMALIA: Nonimmigrant visa applicants subject to heightened scrutiny; no immigrant or diversity visas.

SYRIA: No nonimmigrant, immigrant or diversity lottery visas.

VENEZUELA: No B-1, B-2 or B-1/B-2 visas for officials of designated Venezuelan government agencies. Other visa holders are subject to verification of traveler information. No restrictions on immigrant or diversity lottery visas.

YEMEN: No B-1, B-2 or B-1/B-2 visitor visas; no immigrant or diversity lottery visas.

Exemptions from the Travel Restrictions

The Travel Ban does not apply to individuals from the seven listed countries if they are:

  • A U.S. Lawful Permanent Resident (Green Card holder)
  • A person with dual citizenship from a Travel Ban country and a non-listed country, if they are travelling using their passport from the non-listed country
  • A person who already holds a valid U.S. visa or advance parole 

Waivers

Individuals who are not exempt from the travel restrictions, can request a waiver when applying for a travel visa and they must show that they would suffer an undue hardship if not admitted to the U.S. and that their entry would not pose any national security threats and would be consistent with the public interest. Although such waivers are available, in practice they are subject to the broad discretion of a Consular Officer and may be very difficult to secure. 

What to Expect Going Forward

The Travel Ban restrictions will remain in place indefinitely until lifted by the Trump Administration or until a particular country is removed from the list.  It is also possible that new countries could be added to the Travel Ban list and/or additional restrictions could be imposed.

Ellis Porter will continue to monitor Travel Ban issues close and will report new updates as they happen. 

If you have any questions about the Travel Ban, please feel free to contact your Ellis Porter attorney to discuss further.