Presidential Proclamation of December 16, 2025
Updated December 18, 2025
President Trump issued a new presidential proclamation on December 16, 2025, that expands on a proclamation issued in June 2025. The new proclamation suspends visa issuance for some countries, including F and J visas. The countries affected by the two proclamations:
Full travel ban (entry suspended for immigrants and nonimmigrants, including F and J visas)
Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Burma (Myanmar), Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Mali, Niger, Palestinian Authority Travel Documents, Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Yemen.
Partial travel ban (entry suspended) for F and J visas
Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, Dominica, Gabon, The Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Togo, Tonga, Venezuela, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
The new travel ban will be in effect as of 12:01am EST on January 1, 2026, and applies to nationals of countries listed above who:
- Are outside of the US on January 1, 2026, and
- Do not have a valid visa on January 1, 2026.
What does this ban mean for you?
If you are a current student, the Office of Global Engagement (OGE) strongly recommends that you do not travel outside of the United States. Please note that entry to the US is at the discretion of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the University cannot interfere in their decision. As an important reminder, you are permitted to remain in the US in F-1 status with an expired F-1 visa as long as your Form I-20 is valid. This also applies to recent graduates who are currently working under OPT authorization. Contact us by email at oge@montclair.edu or phone at +1-973-655-6862 if you have any questions.
If you are a prospective student, please review the information that was sent to you via email and contact us at global@montclair.edu with any questions.
To summarize:
- An F-1 student who is inside the US with a valid visa right now is not affected.
- An F-1 student currently outside the US with a valid visa right now is not affected.
- An F-1 student WITHOUT a valid visa and outside the US will NOT be able to re-enter.
- An F-1 student WITHOUT a valid visa but who is inside the US is NOT subject to the ban, BUT will likely face problems renewing their F-1 visa and re-entering the US if they exit the US at any time.
We will continue to update this website with more information as it becomes available.