The Trump administration is weighing travel restrictions for dozens of countries, with up to 11 countries facing a possible full ban.
Up to 43 countries are under review for varying levels of travel restrictions, according to internal memos shared with reporters. Reuters saw a memo with 41 countries named, and The New York Times reported that 43 countries are under review.
On January 20, Trump issued an executive order that included a call for an administration report — due next Friday — that would pinpoint countries deserving of possible restrictions on U.S. travel.
Countries Facing Possible Full Visa Bans
The list with the most severe restrictions includes 11 countries. Citizens from these countries would be barred from entering the U.S., and officials are currently considering these countries, according to the reports: Afghanistan, Bhutan, Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen.
It is not clear whether people with existing visas would be exempted from the ban or if those visas would be canceled.
Trump first issued a full travel ban after he took office in January 2017, starting with five countries and later expanding to 10. The new list includes those countries with Afghanistan as a potential addition.
Countries Facing Partial Visa Suspension
Officials are considering restricting tourist, student, and similar specialty visas for citizens of several countries. Reuters reported the list as Eritrea, Haiti, Laos, Myanmar, and South Sudan.
The New York Times reported those countries and reported that the following are also under evaluation: Belarus, Pakistan, Russia, Sierra Leone, and Turkmenistan.
In this category, only certain types of visas might be issued, such as for people traveling for business but not immigrants or tourists. The length of their visas might be shortened. These citizens could be required to have in-person interviews to secure visas. Specific restrictions are yet to be set.
Countries at Risk of Suspension
The memo suggests putting many countries on notice that they face a partial suspension of U.S. travel privileges if they do not address deficiencies in their screening processes.
Trump’s executive order called for an evaluation of countries “for which vetting and screening information is so deficient as to warrant a partial or full suspension on the admission of nationals from those countries.”
Reuters listed the following countries as being under consideration for this category.
- Angola
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Belarus
- Benin
- Bhutan
- Cabo Verde (Cape Verde)
- Cambodia
- Cameroon
- Chad
- Democratic Republic of the Congo (former French colony)
- Dominica
- Equatorial Guinea
- Gambia
- Liberia
- Malawi
- Mauritania
- Pakistan
- Republic of the Congo (former Belgian colony)
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- St. Lucia
- Sao Tome and Principe
- Sierra Leone
- East Timor
- Turkmenistan
- Vanuatu
The New York Times reported that two other countries — Mali and Zimbabwe — also face possible restrictions.
Which Countries Were Affected Last Time?
Starting with an executive order in January 2017, the Trump Administration attempted to temporarily ban entry into the U.S. from five Muslim-majority countries: Yemen, Syria, Iran, Libya, and Somalia. It also put restrictions on nationals from Venezuela and North Korea.
The administration’s attempt to do this was initially blocked in court, and a second attempt was also blocked. However, in June 2018, the Supreme Court ultimately upheld the final version of the ban.
In 2020, the ban was expanded to include six additional countries — Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Nigeria, Sudan, and Tanzania.
When Biden became president in January 2021, he removed Trump’s travel bans.
What Were the Restrictions Last Time?
The U.S. suspended the issuance of immigrant and non-immigrant visas, including those for tourism and short-term business, for several countries.
It allowed exceptions for students and those who have established “significant contacts” in the U.S. Non-immigrant visas were unaffected for Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, and Nigeria.
Most North Koreans were barred from entering the U.S., while the ban on Venezuelan nationals mostly applied to government officials.
The CEOs of Expedia Inc., Airbnb, TripAdvisor, Lyft, and Uber condemned the ban, and it set off years of legal battles.
How Was Muslim Tourism to the U.S. Impacted?
In 2016, before the travel bans and restrictions, CrescentRating’s 2017 Global Muslim Travel Index gave the U.S. an overall index score of 48.6 (on a scale of 0 to 100) for Muslim tourism.
Index scores are derived from various criteria, including how travel brands cater to Muslim travelers, safety, visa requirements, access to prayer spaces, and accommodation options.
The U.S. scored 26 in the 2024 index for the general safety of Muslim travelers, a big decrease from 62 in the 2017 report.
The overall index did not fully recover in the years since the Biden Administration lifted the ban in 2021: By 2024, the overall score had recovered only to 43, putting the U.S. in the 53rd spot globally.
What’s Next?
The International Trade Administration’s National Travel and Tourism Office forecast this month that international visitors to the U.S. will rise 6.5% this year, to 77.1 million.
According to the International Trade Administration, the top 12 countries with the highest number of visitors to the U.S. are India, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Brazil, Australia, South Korea, Japan, and China.
However, U.S. tourism levels remain below 2019’s peak of 79.4 million. That implies a loss of potential business for U.S. tourism, according to estimates by the U.S. Travel Association.
Accommodations Sector Stock Index Performance Year-to-Date
What am I looking at? The performance of hotels and short-term rental sector stocks within the ST200. The index includes companies publicly traded across global markets, including international and regional hotel brands, hotel REITs, hotel management companies, alternative accommodations, and timeshares.
The Skift Travel 200 (ST200) combines the financial performance of nearly 200 travel companies worth more than a trillion dollars into a single number. See more hotels and short-term rental financial sector performance.
Read the full methodology behind the Skift Travel 200.
