People from seven countries will not be able to travel to the United States starting Thursday, according to updated CBP guidance obtained by ABC News.
Earlier this year, President Donald Trump signed executive orders limiting travel from Burkina Faso, Laos, Mali, Niger, Sierra Leone, South Sudan and Syria, and those restrictions will take effect on January 1.
This applies to both immigrants and nonimmigrants, according to the Dec. 29 CBO document.
the white house says The restrictions are for national and public safety reasons, while immigrant advocates say the ban goals African and Muslim countries.
President Donald Trump speaks during a joint news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, on December 29, 2025.
Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
The travel ban continues with restrictions on those from Afghanistan; Burma (Myanmar); Chad; Republic of the Congo; Equatorial Guinea; Eritrea; Haiti; Iran; Libya; Somalia; Sudan; Yemen enters the United States.
There are also partial travel restrictions for people from Venezuela and Cuba, according to the document.
It comes amid new restrictions on H1-B visas set to come into effect early this week.
The H-1B visa program allows employers to hire noncitizens who have a specialized skill or trade that was previously done on a somewhat random basis.
The changes the administration made, which went into effect Monday, allow for a weighted system to prioritize people who would earn a higher salary.
“The current random selection process for H-1B registrations was exploited and abused by American employers who primarily sought to import foreign workers at lower wages than they would pay American workers,” said U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services spokesman Matthew Tragesser.
“The new weighted selection will better serve Congress’ intent for the H-1B program and strengthen America’s competitiveness by incentivizing American employers to request higher-paid, higher-skilled foreign workers,” Tragesser said. “With these regulatory changes and others in the future, we will continue to update the H-1B program to help American businesses without enabling the abuse that was harming American workers.”
Rosanna Beradi, an immigration attorney, said the change will limit who qualifies.
“The change will severely limit the number of applicants who qualify under the H-1B program,” he told ABC News. “It will make it even more difficult for international students to remain in the US after graduation, exacerbating the brain drain. The new rule effectively eliminates the lottery system and prioritizes high-wage workers.”
According to USCIS, there are a total of 85,000 H1-B visa applications.
This comes as the administration has prioritized tightening visa restrictions for other countries.
