On Sunday, September 24, 2017,President Trump made a PresidentialProclamation regarding enhancedvetting for visa applicants from certain countries. The Proclamation has been called the “TravelBan 3.0” by reporters and commentators. The Proclamation will go into effect on October 18, 2017 at 12:01 AMET.
The Proclamation puts restrictionson the issuance of visas to nationals of certain countries until thosecountries meet the US government’s requirements for information sharing aboutvisa applicants. No visas will be revokedunder the Proclamation. The affectedcountries and visa types are:
· No B1/B2 tourist visas will be issued tonationals of:
o Yemen
o Chad
o Libya
· B1/B2 tourist visas will not be issued Venezuelan government officials andtheir family members.
· No visas will be issued to nationals of Iran, with the exception of F, M, and Jvisas which will only be issued after extra scrutiny.
· No immigrant visas (green cards) will be issuedto individuals from Somalia. Non-immigrant visas (i.e. F, J, H-1B, L-1)will be issued, but only with extra vetting.
· Lastly, no visas, of any type, will be issued tonationals from Syria or North Korea.
In response to the President’sProclamation, the Supreme Court cancelledthe oral argument on the earlier version of the travel ban, scheduled forOctober 10, 2017. The Supreme Courtasked the attorneys in the case to submit briefs as to whether the travel banissue is now moot. When a policy expiresand a new policy is put in place, the challenge to the old policy can be “moot”meaning it is no longer debatable because the old policy has expired.