Supreme Court Ruling Update

Dec 6, 2017

The U.S. Supreme Court issued an order on Monday, December 4, that will allow the Trump administration to fully enforce its travel restrictions on certain nationals of eight countries: Chad, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen, pursuant to a presidential proclamation that was issued on September 24, 2017. Monday’s ruling by the Supreme Court removes the relationship exemption and allows the administration to fully implement the ban while challenges to it continue in the Federal Court of Appeals. However, anyone in the U.S. when the original proclamation was issued is exempt from restrictions (e.g. if you were already in the U.S. on a student or scholar visa), but may be subject to additional vetting as part of a new visa application. We recommend that students and scholars from these countries understand the conditions, exemptions, and exceptions set forth by the proclamation, which vary by country.

The Office of International Affairs (OIA) stands ready to support students and scholars who may need assistance or have questions. We recommend students and scholars from the affected countries contact their OIA adviser or an immigration attorney before leaving the United States. We will continue to monitor these developments and will post further updates as they become available.