Dear Student,
On Saturday, June 14, 2025, news outlets began reporting that the Department of State issued a memo to consular posts informing them of a potential travel ban for 36 additional countries if they did not meet certain requirements set by the Trump Administration within 60 days. These additional countries are:
- Angola
- Antigua & Barbuda
- Benin
- Bhutan
- Burkina Faso
- Cabo Verde
- Cambodia
- Cameroon
- Democratic Republic of Congo
- Djibouti
- Dominica
- Egypt
- Ethiopia
- Gabon
- Gambia
- Ghana
- Ivory Coast
- Kyrgyzstan
- Liberia
- Malawi
- Mauritania
- Niger
- Nigeria
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Saint Lucia
- Sao Tome and Principe
- Senegal
- South Sudan
- Syria
- Tanzania
- Tonga
- Tuvalu
- Uganda
- Vanuatu
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
As of this writing, an official travel ban for these countries has not been announced.
If you are an incoming graduate student currently outside the United States, the International Services Office would like to remind you that you may enter the U.S. up to 30 days prior to the program start date indicated on your I-20. To avoid potential travel, ban issues, you may want to consider arriving in advance of your program’s start date. For questions about graduate student housing, please contact Rebecca Orton with Graduate and Family Housing at: rebecca.orton@rochester.edu.
If you do not currently have your visa and are unsure of your ability to begin the semester in Rochester on time, please contact your admitting department for guidance.
The University and the International Services Office (ISO) will continue to closely monitor developments regarding travel restrictions and will provide you with timely updates. Additionally, we will keep The Federal Policy Changes on our website updated as information becomes available.
We look forward to seeing you on campus.
Kindest regards,
Ravi Shankar
Interim Vice Provost for Global Engagement
Wendy Fritz
Interim Assistant Vice Provost for International Services & Support