United States President Donald Trump is considering restricting entry to citizens of an additional 36 countries, including Nigeria, into the U.S.
This was disclosed via a State Department memo released on Saturday, June 14, 2025.
Among the new list of countries that could face visa bans or other restrictions are 25 African countries, including significant U.S. partners such as Egypt and Djibouti, plus countries in the Caribbean, Central Asia, and several Pacific Island nations.
The memo, which was signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and sent Saturday to U.S. diplomats who work with the countries, said the governments of listed nations were being given 60 days to meet new benchmarks and requirements established by the State Department.
It set a deadline of 8 a.m. on Wednesday, June 18, for them to provide an initial action plan for meeting the requirements.
The memo identified varied benchmarks that, in the administration’s estimation, these countries were failing to meet. Some countries had “no competent or cooperative central government authority to produce reliable identity documents or other civil documents,” or they suffered from “widespread government fraud.” Others had large numbers of citizens who overstayed their visas in the United States.
Other reasons included the availability of citizenship by monetary investment without a requirement of residency and claims of “antisemitic and anti-American activity in the United States” by people from those countries.
Trump’s new travel ban comes into effect as citizens of 12 countries barred from U.S.
The memo also stated that if a country was willing to accept third-country nationals who were removed from the United States or enter a “safe third country” agreement, it could mitigate other concerns.
It was not immediately clear when the proposed travel restrictions would be enforced if the demands were not met, The Washington Post reported.
The countries facing the travel ban in the memo include Angola; Antigua and Barbuda; Benin; Bhutan; Burkina Faso; Cabo Verde; Cambodia; Cameroon; Democratic Republic of Congo; Djibouti; Dominica; Ethiopia; Egypt; Gabon; Gambia; Ghana; Ivory Coast; Kyrgyzstan; Liberia; Malawi; Mauritania; Niger; Nigeria; Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Sao Tome and Principe; Senegal; South Sudan; Syria; Tanzania; Tonga; Tuvalu; Uganda; Vanuatu; Zambia; and Zimbabwe.
The list represents a significant expansion of a presidential proclamation issued on June 4, when the United States fully restricted the entry of individuals from Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. The United States also had partially restricted the entry of travellers from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela under that order.
A State Department spokesperson said the agency would not comment on internal deliberations or communications. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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