U.S. Supreme Court Permits Travel Restrictions to Begin Effective Immediately

in Executive Order
December 4th, 2017

U.S. Supreme Court announced that they will allow the latest version of travel restrictions targeting nationals from certain countries to go into effect immediately while legal challenges continue in the lower courts. The travel restrictions permit nationals from Chad, Libya, Iran, Syria, North Korea, Somalia, Yemen and certain government officials from Venezuela to travel to the U.S. ONLY if they already have a valid visa supporting their purpose for travel to the U.S. Effective immediately, while the proclamation allows nationals from Iran to apply for the F-1 or the J-1 nonimmigrant categories, it prohibits Iranian citizens from applying for all other categories of nonimmigrant visas. In addition, it prevents nationals from Chad, Libya, Yemen and certain government official Venezuela from applying for B-1 and B-2 visitor visas and nationals from Syria and North Korea from applying for all nonimmigrant visa categories. Nationals from Somalia and those from the from the other referenced countries may be able to apply for nonimmigrant visas by exception on a case by case basis. Please find specific details and related links on the ISSO Travel Ban web page. Members of the BU community are encouraged to contact the ISSO staff with any questions related to travel or visa restrictions.