Tag Archives: Travel Ban

Travel Ban to Include Venezuela, North Korea, and Chad

Travel-Ban-to-Include-Venezuela-North-Korea-and-ChadTrump Adds Venezuela, North Korea and Chan to New Travel Ban

The list of countries that are directly affected by the travel ban enforced by Donald Trump, America’s President, has expanded to include Venezuela, North Korea and Chad. This severely limits the people from these countries from travelling to the United States. It also causes a concern for many Americans who live in the United States because this can disable them from bringing their family members to the United States. Therefore, in this article, I will address how this new travel ban with the new included countries affects Americans and foreign nationals alike.

How the Travel Ban will Affect Americans & Foreign Nationals

The primary individuals that will be affected by this new travel ban are the individuals that were already a part of the travel ban, including citizens from Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen and Somalia. Earlier this year, Sudan was also included in this list of countries; however, this country is no longer in the list of banned countries. As of recent, Venezuela, North Korea and Chad were included in this list for several different reasons. For instance, the travel ban for Venezuela only affects government officials; the rest of the country’s citizens may travel to the United States but will undergo heightened security screening.

Whereas for the other countries, such as North Korea and Chad, President Donald Trump announced that the United States will be enhancing vetting capabilities and processes for detecting attempted entry into the United States by terrorists and/or other public-safety threats. Therefore, on October 18, this new travel ban is set to be implemented and enforced throughout the United States.

It is important to note that the previously travel ban that was enforced earlier this year was temporary in nature. However, this new travel ban is said to be indefinite. With this new travel ban, the United States have also implemented a regulation that allows for U.S. officials to assess each individual based on a country-by-country and case-by-case basis as opposed to the umbrella ban that was previously implemented. The new order is said to have the most strict guidelines and restrictions on Syria and North Korea. As a result, any citizen from either of these countries will be denied visas to enter the United States.

To better understands the guidelines and restrictions for the current countries that have a travel ban, I have included a chart below.

Country Immigrant Visas Non-Immigrant Visas
Chad Suspends all Visas Suspends Business & Tourist Visas
Iran Suspends all Visas Allows Student Visas Only
Libya Suspends all Visas Suspends Business & Tourist Visas
North Korea Suspends all Visas Suspends all Visas
Somalia Suspends all Visas Allows Visas with Additional Sreening
Syria Suspends all Visas Suspends all Visas
Venezuela Allows Visas with the Exception for Select Government Officials Allows Visas with the Exception for Select Government Officials
Yemen Suspends all Visas Suspends Business & Tourist Visas

 

Venezuela

Interestingly enough, the United States is the largest trading partner of Venezuela. For instance, bilateral trade in goods and services between the United States and Venezuela had reached an approximate $23.9 billion in the year of 2015. Additionally, many Americans can trace their heritage back to Venezuela. Therefore, there are many significant ties between the United States and Venezuela.

However, recently, Venezuela has succumbed to political and economic disorder. There are several anti-government protests in the streets of the South American country which occur on a daily basis. This has unfortunately caused inflation and a raise in unemployment rates and crime rates.

Conclusively, the administration in the United States has concluded that Venezuela’s government does not consider nor share public-safety and terrorism-related information appropriately. Thus, the restrictions on Venezuela focus on specifically their government officials who are responsible for the inadequacies. It is also important to note that any citizens of Venezuela who are current visa holders may be subject to additional security measures and screening to ensure that traveler information remains accurate and current.

Consequences of the Travel Ban

In the U.S., there have been several cases where individuals who had valid visas to enter the U.S. were denied entry and in some extreme cases, their visas were cancelled because of this travel ban. These decisions were ultimately made by U.S. border officials. Many individuals as well as government officials in the United States actually feel as though the travel ban restrictions enforce discrimination based on religious grounds. For instance, the majority of the countries that are a part of this travel ban are Muslim-majority countries.

For many Americans and American travellers, this travel ban can be extremely deleterious. As previously mentioned, there are many individuals that believe the travel ban is illogical, discriminatory, and very un-American. Consequently, there are several sentiments from individuals, either American or foreign, who truly believe that these exclusions and restrictions will not make America safer and it will cause further conflict going forward. Especially since this new travel ban is indefinite towards Syria and North Korea. There is already a large amount of conflict between the United States and these countries and this travel ban can ultimately cause more turmoil and conflict in the future which would not be very beneficial for the United States.

Contact Akrami & Associates

For more information on U.S. matters and different visa applications you can submit, please refer to our different blogs. If you would like more information on the travel ban that was implemented earlier this year, please refer to our blog “U.S. Supreme Court May Enforce Travel Ban.” To obtain any visa in the U.S., it is highly recommended that you seek out professional and experienced help before attempting to submit the application. Here, at Akrami & Associates, we work and have experience with many different immigration issues. We have helped many of our clients visit the United States. If you believe that you may be eligible to apply for a visa to the U.S., please feel free to contact Akrami & Associates at our office at 416-477-2545 for more information or if you would like to book a consultation with an immigration professional for more advice.

With Akrami & Associates, there is always a way!

US Supreme Court May Enforce Travel Ban

US-Supreme-Court-May-Enforce-Travel-Ban

Supreme Court Rules Trump May Enforce Travel Ban

Since Donald Trump has become the President of the U.S., there has been continuous speculation about travel bans towards Muslim-majority countries. This has caused an enormous amount of discussion and concern for many Americans as several of them have immigrated to America from these countries. Recently the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that Trump’s travel ban, which targets six Muslim-majority countries, may possibly go into effect. This is specifically with respect to any foreign national who lacks any bona fide relationship with a person in the United States. Therefore, in this article, I will address who will be affected by this travel ban and when it will come into effect.

Who will be affected & when will it come into effect

The travel ban is specifically targeting citizens from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. The travel ban, as stated by Donald Trump, will come into effect within three days of the court ruling. The travel ban excludes any foreign nationals, from these designated countries, in relationships with citizens or permanent residents of the U.S. However, any foreign national that wishes to travel to the U.S. with an accompanying visa, who had never visited the U.S. before, has no family in the U.S., or any business or other ties, may be prohibited from entering.

The new order is speculated to explain the ties each of the six countries has with terrorist organizations. For instance, Iran’s support of terrorist groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas, ISIS activities in Libya, al-Qaeda offshoot operating in Yemen, and the active combat ongoing in Syria and Libya have made these countries targets of the travel ban. Therefore, as a result of these ties, immigrants from these countries cannot be adequately vetted.

It is important to note that the U.S. Supreme Court can overturn lower court orders that have attempted to block the implementation of the travel ban; the U.S. Supreme Court is the highest federal court in the U.S. and therefore is permitted to do so.

There was an order made on March 6, which followed an order previous made that included Iraqi citizens, announced a 90 day travel ban on travellers from the six aforementioned countries, as well as a 120 day ban on all refugees. Going forward, Syrians will no longer be subject to an indefinite ban, as they were in the first order. Additionally, Iraq will not be included in the newest travel ban as there have been negotiations between the Iraqi government and the American government. Iraq has consequently vowed to improve the security of its travel documents and share more information on its citizens with the U.S. government. This order was supported by the U.S. government as they believed it would enforce stronger vetting procedures to be implemented going forward. Furthermore, the U.S. Supreme court will hear a handful of cases in which lower courts have blocked the travel bans; however, there is no guarantee that these arguments will come out successful. The previous bans are said to be going into effect this summer.

Consequences of the Travel Ban

This travel ban unfortunately will cause confusion and concern for many Americans and prospect visitors to the U.S. Due to the previous speculation and discussion within the past few months of Trump’s administration, there is no doubt that there will be more confusion and discussion going forward. Two justices from the U.S. Supreme court have confirmed that it will be very difficult to determine who exactly has a bona fide relationship with the U.S. A bona fide relationship includes parents, children, in-laws and step-relations but does exclude grandparents, nephews, nieces, cousins, and others. Additionally, fiancés were originally placed in the excluded group of family members, however, as of recently they are now determined to be a bona fide relationship. Therefore, it is extremely important for the individual to have a clear understanding of who classifies under a bona fide relationship. This will place a significant burden on any executive official who is entitled to decide whether an individual who is attempting to enter the country from any of the six aforementioned countries indeed has a sufficient and genuine connection to a person or entity within the U.S.

In the U.S., there have been several cases where individuals who had valid visas to enter the U.S. were denied entry and in some extreme cases, their visas were cancelled. These decisions were ultimately made by U.S. border officials. Trump is extremely enthusiastic and adamant about the travel ban. He states that it is in fact a victory for American security.

On the other hand, for Americans and American travellers, this travel ban can be extremely detrimental. Many individuals believe that the travel ban is, in contrast, illogical, discriminatory, and very un-American. Others find it extremely exclusionary to determine which relationships are bona fide and which are not. This can cause extreme heartbreak if grandparents or grandchildren are banned from the U.S. due to their relationships not being bona fide. As a result, there are several sentiments from individuals who believe that these exclusions will not make the country safer and it will cause further conflict going forward.

Contact Akrami & Associates to Petition for your Spouse

For more information on U.S. matters and different visa applications you can submit, please refer to our different blogs. For any visa in the U.S. it is highly recommended that you seek out professional and experienced help before attempting to submit the application. Here, at Akrami & Associates, we work and have experience with many different immigration issues. We have helped many of our client visit the United States. If you believe that you may be eligible to apply for a visa to the U.S., please feel free to contact Akrami & Associates at our office at 416-477-2545 for more information or if you would like to book a consultation with an immigration professional for more advice.

With Akrami & Associates, there is always a way!