US President Donald Trump signed another new directive on Tuesday, 16th December, that prohibits travel from seven more nations and imposes restrictions on entry from 15 other countries. This puts the total number at 39 nations that have been imposed travel restrictions by the U.S. due to national security, public safety, and addressing weaknesses in vetting and high visa overstays.
— White House Wire (@whwire) December 16, 2025
President Trump has issued a new executive order to restrict the entry of foreign nationals from countries with inadequate vetting processes to protect U.S. national security and public safety. Key measures include:
– Enhanced scrutiny during visa issuance
– Suspension of… pic.twitter.com/OjOvOTz7FE
The complete restrictions now apply to Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan, Syria, Laos, and Sierra Leone, moving Laos and Sierra Leone from limited restrictions. Additionally, the list now applies to persons who hold the travel document of the Palestinian Authority.
Partial entry restrictions are applied in 15 new countries: Angola, Antigua & Barbuda, Benin, Cte d’Ivoire, Dominica, Gabon, Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Tonga, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The restrictions apply to the entry of immigrants and nonimmigrants. Burundi, Cuba, Togo, and Venezuela maintain their visa requirements, and Turkmenistan sees some easing of non-immigrant visas.
The US has already blocked entry into the country for travellers coming from 12 countries, including Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.
The presidential proclamation stated that people from the countries included in the prohibition list “have been involved with crimes that include murder, terrorism, embezzling public funds, human smuggling, human trafficking, and other criminal activity.” It stated, “Many of these countries are ranked in the top third of countries for criminality, and widely unreliable foreign civil documents and lack of authoritative criminal information make it extremely difficult for United States screening and vetting authorities to assess prior criminal activity and other grounds of inadmissibility.”
This accelerated following an Afghan asylum seeker’s murder of two National Guardsmen in the DC area on 26th November and an ISIS attack in Syria that killed two US soldiers and an American civilian on 13th December. “The reason why Syria doesn’t have effective passports is because of the conflict,” the White House explains. Exclusions include permanent residents, current visa holders, diplomats, athletes, and US interests.
