President Donald Trump has included Tanzania in the list of 39 countries whose citizens face travel restrictions to the United States.
In an executive proclamation dated December 16 2025, Trump expanded the list, which consists majority of non-white countries, to include Tanzania in the partial restrictions and entry limitations.
“President Donald Trump signed a Proclamation expanding and strengthening entry restrictions on nationals from countries with demonstrated, persistent, and severe deficiencies in screening, vetting, and information-sharing to protect the Nation from national security and public safety threats,” White House said in a statement on Tuesday.
White House stated, “It adds partial restrictions and entry limitations on 15 additional countries: Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Dominica, Gabon, The Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Tonga, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.”
The proclamation continues the full restrictions and entry limitations of nationals from the original 12 high-risk countries established under Proclamation 10949: Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.
It adds full restrictions and entry limitations on five additional countries based on recent analysis: Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan, and Syria.
It also adds full restrictions and entry limitations on individuals holding Palestinian-Authority-issued travel documents.
It imposes full restrictions and entry limitations on 2 countries that were previously subject to partial restrictions: Laos and Sierra Leone.
“The Proclamation continues partial restrictions of nationals from 4 of the 7 original high-risk countries: Burundi, Cuba, Togo, and Venezuela,” the statement added.
“The restrictions and limitations imposed by the Proclamation are necessary to prevent the entry of foreign nationals about whom the United States lacks sufficient information to assess the risks they pose, garner cooperation from foreign governments, enforce our immigration laws, and advance other important foreign policy, national security, and counterterrorism objectives.”
White House explained that many of the restricted countries suffer from widespread corruption, fraudulent or unreliable civil documents and criminal records, and non-existent birth-registration systems, systemically preventing accurate vetting.
Some countries’ high visa-overstay rates and refusal to repatriate removable nationals demonstrate disregard for U.S. immigration laws and burden American enforcement resources.
“According to the Overstay Report, Tanzania had a B-1/B-2 visa overstay rate of 8.30 per cent and an F, M, and J visa overstay rate of 13.97 per cent,” the report adds.
The Proclamation includes exceptions for lawful permanent residents, existing visa holders, certain visa categories like athletes and diplomats, and individuals whose entry serves U.S. national interests.
Trump administration said some nations refuse to share passport exemplars or law-enforcement data, while others permit Citizenship-by-Investment schemes that conceal identity and bypass vetting requirements and travel restrictions.
“Terrorist presence, criminal activity, and extremist activity in several listed countries result in a general lack of stability and government control, which causes deficient vetting capabilities and poses direct risks to American citizens and interests when nationals from these countries are admitted to the United States.”
In his first term, President Trump imposed travel restrictions that restricted entry from several countries with inadequate vetting processes or that posed significant security risks.
In June 2025, President Trump restored the travel restrictions from his first-term, incorporating an updated assessment of current global screening, vetting, and security risks.
The statement added that radical Islamic terrorist groups such as Boko Haram and the Islamic State operate freely in certain parts of Nigeria, which creates substantial screening and vetting difficulties.
“According to the Overstay Report, Nigeria had a B-1/B-2 visa overstay rate of 5.56 per cent and an F, M, and J visa overstay rate of 11.90 per cent.”
