Trump adds Nigeria, Tanzania, 4 other countries to travel ban list

The President of the United States, Donald Trump, has on Friday added Nigeria, Tanzania, and four other countries to the list of countries facing stringent travel restrictions to the United States.

Nigeria, Tanzania, Eritrea, Sudan, Myanmar and Kyrgyzstan are the latest addition to Trump’s travel ban that blocks their nationals from applying for certain types of U.S visas.

The restrictions which take effect on February 21, 2020, will block nationals of Nigeria, Eritrea, Myanmar and Kyrgyzstan from applying for visas to immigrate to the U.S. According to the Trump administration, the new policy was designed to tighten security for countries that don’t comply with the U.S. minimum security standards or cooperate to prevent illegal immigration.

The new policy takes Sudan and Tanzania out of the list of countries eligible to participate in the diversity visa lottery, which randomly awards green cards to 50,000 immigrants annually.

The affected countries can still travel to the U.S as tourists.

Immigrants who were issued valid immigrant visas before February 21, 2020, will still be able to move to the U.S.