US Expands Travel Ban to 39 Nations From January 1, 2026: Full List Inside

The U.S. is widening its travel restrictions once again. On December 4, 2025, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced that the Trump administration plans to expand the existing travel ban to cover immediate family members of U.S. citizens from nearly 40 countries.

The updated policy, issued through an executive order on December 16, 2025, now places 39 countries under full or partial travel restrictions. These rules officially came into effect on January 1, 2026.

According to the White House, the expanded travel ban is intended to “prevent the entry of foreign nationals about whom the United States lacks sufficient information to assess the risks they pose.”

Full ban: immigrants and all nonimmigrants

Under Proclamation 10998, a complete ban on entry now applies to immigrants and all nonimmigrant categories from 20 countries and entities, effective January 1, 2026. This list includes countries already under restrictions and several new additions.

Countries subject to a full entry ban:

• Afghanistan
• Burkina Faso (added)
• Burma (Myanmar)
• Chad
• Equatorial Guinea
• Eritrea
• Haiti
• Iran
• Laos (moved from partial ban)
• Libya
• Mali (added)
• Niger (added)
• Palestinian Authority Travel Documents (added)
• Republic of the Congo
• Sierra Leone (moved from partial ban)
• Somalia
• South Sudan (added)
• Sudan
• Syria (added)
• Yemen

Note: Nationals of these countries — as well as individuals using Palestinian Authority travel documents — are barred from entering the U.S. as both immigrants and nonimmigrants.

Partial ban: limits on specific visa categories

A partial suspension affects an additional group of 20 countries. For these nations, entry is restricted for immigrants and for travelers applying under the following visa categories: B-1, B-2, B-1/B-2, F, M, and J.

Countries under a partial entry ban:

• Angola (added)
• Antigua and Barbuda (added)
• Benin (added)
• Burundi
• Côte d’Ivoire (added)
• Cuba
• Dominica (added)
• Gabon (added)
• The Gambia (added)
• Malawi (added)
• Mauritania (added)
• Nigeria (added)
• Senegal (added)
• Tanzania (added)
• Togo
• Tonga (added)
• Turkmenistan**
• Venezuela
• Zambia (added)
• Zimbabwe (added)

Important exception:

For Turkmenistan, restrictions apply only to immigrants — nonimmigrant visa categories remain unaffected.

Additionally, for countries under the partial ban, consular officers are instructed to issue other nonimmigrant visas with the shortest validity legally permissible.