Those restrictions will remain in place, Wolf said. North Korea and Venezuela also face visa restrictions, but those measures affect relatively few travellers. The existing version of the ban applies to the Muslim-majority nations of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen. The policy was revised amid court challenges, but the US Supreme Court ultimately upheld it in June 2018. It caused widespread outrage and chaos at airports across the US. The original travel ban – issued during Trump’s first week in office in January 2017 – barred nearly all immigrants and travellers from seven Muslim-majority nations. The presidential proclamation will take effect on February 21. “These countries, for the most part, want to be helpful,” Wolf said, “but for a variety of different reasons simply failed to meet those minimum requirements that we laid out.” The problems Wolf cited ranged from subpar passport technology to a failure to sufficiently exchange information on “terrorism” suspects and criminals. Wolf said the six countries failed to meet US security and information-sharing standards, which necessitated the new restrictions. Those visas – which Trump has criticised in the past – are available by lottery for applicants from countries with low rates of immigration to the US. The US government will also stop issuing “diversity visas” to nationals of Sudan and Tanzania, During December 2019, for example, about 650,760 nonimmigrant visas were granted by the US in total. ![]() Those visas are given to people travelling to the US for a temporary stay, including tourists, those doing business or people seeking medical treatment. Nonimmigrant visas were not affected for the additional countries, Wolf said. The US will suspend the issuance of visas that can lead to permanent residency for nationals of Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar and Nigeria, acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf said during a call with reporters. ![]() The move was slammed by immigrant advocates and critics who say the policy discriminates against Muslims and others. US President Donald Trump issued an expanded version of his travel ban on Friday, an official said.
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