How the Trump travel ban will affect British tourists
Nationals from 12 countries will be barred from entering the United States under President Trump's new travel ban.
In a video posted by the White House on Wednesday June 4, President Trump said the restrictions were 'a key part of preventing major foreign terror attacks on American soil.'
In addition to the 12 countries facing a total ban, nationals from an additional seven countries will face partial restrictions on entering the United States.
The travel ban echoes a similar policy introduced in 2017, during Trump's first term, when he banned foreign nationals from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States.
The only countries that feature on both 2017 and 2025 lists are Iran, Libya and Somalia.
Nationals from the following countries cannot travel to the US for immigrant or non-immigrant purposes:
Afghanistan
Myanmar
Chad
Republic of the Congo
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Haiti
Iran
Libya
Somalia
Sudan
Yemen
Certain visa programs on offer to nationals from the following countries have been suspended, but an outright travel ban has not been implemented:
Burundi
Cuba
Laos
Sierra Leone
Togo
Turkmenistan
Venezuela
Announcing the ban, President Trump said: 'The list is subject to revision based on whether material improvements are made and likewise new countries can be added as threats emerge around the world.'
Athletes travelling for major sporting events (including the 2026 World Cup and 2028 Los Angeles Olympics), certain dual nationals and Afghan nationals with Special Immigrant Visas will be exempt.
The secretary of state also said there could be exemptions made on a 'case-by-case' basis.
Despite Donald Trump citing the recent attack in Colorado by an Egyptian national when announcing his latest travel ban, Egypt is not included in the 19 countries.
The broad reason for the travel ban is 'national security', but there are some specific categories.
For some countries the concern is that there is no reliable process for issuing passports or vetting nationals leaving the country. This applies to Afghanistan, Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Libya and Venezuela.
For others, the concern is that there are a high number of immigrants overstaying their US visas. This applies to Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Burundi, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo and Turkmenistan.
Then there are the countries that are included because of terrorist activity or 'state-sponsored terrorism'. These include Afghanistan, Cuba, Iran, Libya and Somalia.
The travel ban will come into effect on June 9, 2025. No end date has been provided. This gives slightly more time for preparations to be made compared to 2017's executive order, when there was widespread disruption across US airports as nationals from banned countries were turned around at the border.
Dual nationals are exempt from the travel ban. If you hold both British and Iranian passports and travel into the United States on a British passport, you will not be automatically denied entry. However, certain dual nationals (including British/Iranian nationals) are exempt from the Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (Esta) visa-waiver scheme and will need to apply for a full visa (see below).
The United States prevents British citizens from applying for an Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (Esta) visa waiver if they have visited certain countries since March 2011.
These are Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Somalia (including Somaliland), Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
This, however, is not linked to the Trump travel ban. The Visa Waiver Program Improvement and Terrorist Travel Prevention Act was signed by Barack Obama in 2015.
You also cannot apply for an Esta visa waiver if you have been to Cuba since January 12, 2021, after Donald Trump designated Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism.
If you have travelled to these countries, it is not impossible to enter the United States, but it does mean you need to apply (and pay) for a full US visa.
You will also need to apply for a full visa if you are a UK citizen with dual nationality with Iraq, Syria, Iran, North Korea or Sudan, regardless of whether you have been present in that country since March 2011.
You can apply for an Esta (valid for up to 90 days of travel) online for the price of $21 (£15.50). To get a visa, you will need to attend an appointment at the US embassy and pay $185 (£136) during the application stage.
Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Politico
33 minutes ago
- Politico
Supreme Court limits outside access to DOGE records
The Supreme Court has reined in a lower-court order that allowed a watchdog group wide-ranging access to records of the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency. The high court's majority said a judge's directive allowing Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington to examine DOGE's recommendations for cost savings at executive branch agencies was 'not appropriately tailored.' In a two-page order Friday, the Supreme Court said such access was not a proper way to resolve an ongoing dispute about whether DOGE is a federal agency subject to the Freedom of Information Act or operates as a presidential advisory body that does not have to share its records with the public. 'Separation of powers concerns counsel judicial deference and restraint in the context of discovery regarding internal Executive Branch communications,' the court's majority wrote. All three of the court's liberal justices indicated they disagreed with the decision, but none provided an explanation of her views.
Yahoo
34 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Chris Hayes: Trump's 'secret police': Masked agents' sweeping immigration raids raise concern
This is an adapted excerpt from the June 5 episode of 'All In with Chris Hayes.' The term 'secret police' invokes a kind of haunting specter. When we see representations of it in movies or history, we immediately identify it with a certain kind of regime: One that tramples people's liberty with no accountability. We associate it with authoritarian governments and dictatorships like the former Soviet Union, where people, usually armed, could wield the authority of the state but were, themselves, totally unaccountable in the same way. Whatever issues there are with American policing — and there are many — at least our police officers have names on their uniforms and badge numbers. But now, in the era of immigration under Donald Trump, one cannot help but notice that in clip after clip, interaction after interaction, the people enforcing the president's policies have all the qualities that one would associate with the concept of 'secret police.' In videos, these individuals are usually masked and either wearing plain clothes or irregular uniforms. They won't give their names or say what agency they're with. Watching it feels wrong, weird, alien and menacing. It does not feel like these law enforcement officials are subject to the authority of a democratic government. It's so striking, in scene after scene, to see regular people asking masked agents, 'Who are you?' and 'What are you doing?' and not receiving an answer. That's what we saw play out in one of the first videos of this kind to be made public: The arrest of Columbia student and lawful resident Mahmoud Khalil. In that video, you can see plainclothes officers apprehending Khalil in the lobby of his building. The officers pointedly refused to identify themselves or what agency they were with. 'We don't give our name,' one man said, after handcuffing and detaining a legal resident of the United States. Not long after that, we got video of the arrest of Tufts University graduate student Rumeysa Ozturk, who was snatched off the street by masked agents and led away in handcuffs. In New Bedford, Massachusetts, there was the chilling scene from last month in which masked agents broke a car window and forcibly removed a man they say was in the country illegally. Just last weekend, in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, masked agents detained an apparently undocumented gardener at his place of work. In San Diego that same weekend, residents tried to hold back what appeared to be militarized agents who were reportedly executing an immigration raid on local businesses. We've also got allegations of all kinds of lies, manipulation and subterfuge. Eyewitnesses in Tucson, Arizona, allege agents posed as city utility workers as part of an arrest attempt. There have been reports of agents performing wellness checks on children, which critics say is a trap for immigration enforcement. All this feels like something distinct from the normal forms of policing and law enforcement that we're used to. As the writer M. Gessen, who was born in the then-Soviet Union, put it in a column for The New York Times: 'The United States has become a secret-police state. Trust me, I've seen it before.' 'The citizens of such a state live with a feeling of being constantly watched. They live with a sense of random danger,' Gessen wrote. 'Anyone — a passer-by, the man behind you in line at the deli, the woman who lives down the hall, your building's super, your own student, your child's teacher — can be a plainclothes agent or a self-appointed enforcer.' This administration is treating people as if they have no rights, as if they can be rounded up at whim without any due process. That is the legal theory of the Trump administration. It believes that immigrants in this country don't have rights, even though that's very clearly not true. The Constitution is clear on this, and precedent is clear on this: Immigrants have due process rights. But the Trump administration seems to believe the state can do whatever it wants to people. According to Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, the agents in these videos are wearing masks for their own safety. 'They wear a mask because they're trying to protect themselves and their families,' Homan said on Fox News. 'Agents are getting doxed every day, their pictures and phone numbers being put on telephone poles. These leftists are following and filming when they go home from work at night.' In a statement to NBC News about these recent immigration crackdowns, Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said, 'Under Secretary Noem, we are delivering on President Trump's and the American people's mandate to arrest and deport criminal illegal aliens and make America safe.' This article was originally published on
Yahoo
34 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump administration to pay nearly $5M in wrongful death lawsuit of Jan. 6 rioter shot by police
The Trump administration will pay a $4.975 million settlement in the lawsuit over the wrongful death of Ashli Babbitt, who was killed by a U.S. Capitol Police officer after storming the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Babbitt — a 35-year-old from California and veteran of the Air Force who went to Washington for President Donald Trump's rally — was among an early group of rioters that reached the doors of the Speaker's Lobby, adjacent to the House chamber, while lawmakers were still evacuating. Details of the settlement were released by Judicial Watch, a pro-Trump advocacy group that represented her estate and family members in the lawsuit. The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to request to comment. The settlement is likely to inflame tensions on Capitol Hill over the riot. Outgoing Capitol Police chief Thomas Manger blasted the reported settlement last month, saying it 'sends a chilling message to law enforcement nationwide, especially to those with a protective mission like ours.' As members of the mob standing near Babbitt pounded on the doors and cracked glass window panes, outnumbered police officers stepped aside and ceded the hallway to the rioters. Moments later, Babbitt is seen on video attempting to enter the lobby through a shattered window. That's when Capitol Police officer Michael Byrd fired the fatal shot. Byrd was investigated and cleared by local and federal authorities. Babbitt was the only rioter killed by police, but several others died either during or in the hours immediately after the protest. Over 100 Capitol Police officers were injured during the protest. The lawsuit was filed in California by Babbitt's family in 2024, claiming wrongful death, assault and battery, as well as negligence claims. The lawsuit was set to go to trial in 2026, but both parties agreed to the settlement. A joint filing Friday from government attorneys and Babbitt's acknowledged that a settlement was reached, but did not disclose details. 'This fair settlement is a historic and necessary step for justice for Ashli Babbitt's family. Ashli should never have been killed, and this settlement destroys the evil, partisan narrative that justified her outrageous killing and protected her killer,' said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton in a press release on the settlement. Trump has repeatedly praised Babbitt, portraying her as an innocent patriot and decrying her death at the hands of Capitol police. It's part of the Trump administration's efforts to repaint the protest on Jan. 6 as a day of patriotism and freedom of expression, rather than an unprecedented insurrection widely denounced in 2021 by Republicans and Democrats. Trump issued sweeping pardons for nearly all of those charged or under investigation for their actions on Jan. 6, including over 300 charged with assaulting the police. Numerous Jan. 6 rioters have been arrested on unrelated charges since. Kyle Cheney contributed to this report.
