Happy New Year. As the new year rolls in, so does the start of a new travel ban in America.

Effective 1 January 2026, citizens of 19 countries, plus those holding travel documents issued by the Palestinian Authority, will be on the existing list of foreigners subject to either a wholesale travel ban or partial travel restrictions in the US.

Originally, 12 countries were on the full travel restrictions list, namely, Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

Beginning 1 January, the following seven countries will be added to the mix: Burkina Faso, Laos, Mali, Niger, Sierra Leone, South Sudan and Syria. Previously, Laos and Sierra Leone appeared only on the partial travel restrictions list.

Also subject to the ban are foreigners carrying Palestinian Authority-issued travel documents — pushing the absolute ban total to 20 countries/territories.

With some exceptions, nationals of the above countries are, by and large, precluded from obtaining immigrant and nonimmigrant visas, including immediate relative and adoption-related visas. However, the proclamation does not invalidate any visa, immigrant or nonimmigrant, issued prior to 1 January 2026.

Additionally, partial travel restrictions will also be imposed on citizens of 19 other countries, as follows: Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Burundi, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Dominica, Gabon, The Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Togo, Tonga, Venezuela, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Travelers from these countries are generally barred from obtaining immigrant visas, as well as certain types of nonimmigrant visas, including B (visitor), F (academic student), M (vocational student), and J (exchange visitor) visas.

For permissible nonimmigrant visas, such as H (work/training) or L (intra-company transfer), US consular officers may issue the visa albeit with a reduced validity period.

As for specific exceptions, the following are exempt from both the full and partial travel bans: (i) those lawfully present in the US or in possession of a valid visa as of 1 January 2026; (ii) green card holders; (iii) dual citizens carrying a non-impacted foreign passport or travel document; (iv) foreign athletes, coaches, and immediate relatives participating in major sporting events in America; (v) foreign diplomats, government officials, and international organization employees, including NATO representatives; (vi) applicants for special immigrant visas reserved for certain US government employees; (vii) persecuted ethnic and religious minorities from Iran applying for immigrant visas; and (viii) travelers serving critical national interest in matters before the Justice Department, State Department, and Homeland Security Department.

In all cases, travelers from impacted countries with valid visas and green cards are expected to face heightened scrutiny at US airports.

It is also anticipated that anyone applying for adjustment of status or any type of immigration benefit in the US who has a nationality or nativity nexus with any affected country will undergo extra vetting at the USCIS.

Fortunately for Filipinos — and despite the ISIS-related controversy generated by the Bondi Beach shootings in Australia which, unwarranted or not, portrayed the Philippines as a hotbed of Muslim extremism — the country has remained off the list.

Nevertheless, since the issue of travel restrictions in America has attained such a level of banality that future list expansions are not only expected but are widely anticipated, no single country, ally or not, is truly safe.