The President Donald Trump administration of the United States of America, USA, is planning to add seven countries, Belarus, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Nigeria, Sudan, and Tanzania, to its travel ban list.
Some countries will face bans only on some visa categories, the Wall Street Journal has reported.
The list of countries is not however final, and could yet change, website Politico said.
President Trump said in an interview with the Journal, that he is considering adding countries to the travel ban list, but declined to state which ones.
Politico stated that an announcement is expected soonest.
The move is likely to sour ties between the United States and the countries affected under the expanded ban.
Nigeria, for example, Africa’s largest economy and most populous country, is a US anti-terrorism partner, and has a large diaspora residing in the United States.
A senior Trump administration Official said that countries that fail to comply with security requirements, including biometrics, information-sharing, and counter-terrorism measures, face the risk of limitations on US immigration.
Under the current version of the ban, citizens of Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen, as well as some Venezuelan Officials and their relatives, are blocked from obtaining a large range of US immigrant and non-immigrant visas.
Chad was previously covered under the ban, but was removed in April 2018.
Citizens of the countries can apply for waivers to the ban, but they are exceedingly rare.
