You may have heard that President Trump is planning an executive order to ban Iranians and others from Muslim majority countries from visiting the U.S. We have reviewed the draft executive order and while this is not confirmed to be the final, official order, based on this document we offer the following initial analysis:
· If you are an Iranian national outside of the U.S. with a valid U.S. visa, you will not be able to enter the United States.
· Iranian dual citizens (e.g. a dual national of France and Iran) may be barred from entering the United States.
· U.S. permanent residents (green card holders) who are outside of the United States may be barred from reentry.
· U.S. citizens will not be directly affected by the ban.
It is not yet clear how the Trump Administration would implement this order so we caution that this is an early analysis. We will update you as we learn more.
The ban will initially last for 30 days but it is likely that for some countries it will be permanent.
The list of targeted countries is Iran, Syria, Iraq, Libya, Yemen, Sudan, and Somalia.
The document says that, after the 30 day suspension of entry, the Department of State and Homeland Security will present a report of countries that do not provide enough information to the U.S. to ensure visa applicants from that country are not a threat. Those countries will be given 60 days to address those issues and comply with U.S. requirements. If they do not, a Presidential proclamation will be issued to ban all entrants from that country.
Mindful of the tensions between the U.S. and Iranian governments we are skeptical that Iran would comply with such requirements or that, if it did comply, the Trump Administration would accept such efforts. This would, in effect, mean a permanent ban on entry for Iranians.
There is nothing to indicate that persons on valid visas inside the United States will be expelled. But if they leave the U.S., they would not be able to return so long as the ban is in place.
We have serious concerns this ban would also apply to dual nationals, i.e. a French citizen traveling to the U.S. from France who also holds Iranian citizenship. It is also possible that this ban will apply to green card holders who seek to re-enter the U.S. We are seeking clarification on how the Trump Administration will implement this order.
Again, we stress that this is a preliminary analysis and until the final order is signed we can only speculate what is in it. As soon as we obtain further information we shall update you. Our firm is fully committed to our clients be they from Iran or elsewhere.