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US Travel Ban Begins Friday with New State Department Visa Criteria | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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A revised version of US President Donald Trump’s travel ban will take effect on Friday. (AFP)


A revised version of US President Donald Trump’s controversial travel ban will go into effect on Friday as the State Department released on Wednesday guidelines for visa applicants from the six Muslim countries that are included in the ban.

The applicants must have a close US family relationship or formal ties to a US entity to be admitted to the United States under the new guidance.

The close familial relationship was defined as being a parent, spouse, child, adult son or daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law or sibling, including step siblings and other step family relations, according to a copy of a cable distributed to all US diplomatic posts and seen by Reuters.

The cable, first reported by the Associated Press, said close family “does not include grandparents, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins, brothers-laws and sisters-in-law, fiancés, and any other ‘extended’ family members.”

It also specified that any relationship with a US entity “must be formal, documented, and formed in the ordinary course, rather than for the purpose of evading the EO,” a reference to Trump’s March 6 executive order barring most US travel by citizens of the six nations for 90 days.

The cable provides advice to US consular officers on how to interpret Monday’s Supreme Court ruling that allowed parts of the executive order, which had been blocked by the courts, to be implemented while the highest US court considers the matter.

The six nations whose citizens are covered by the executive order are Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

The cable’s language closely mirrored the Supreme Court’s order on the travel ban, though it appeared to interpret it in a narrow manner, notably in its definition of close family.

It was unclear whether the State Department’s interpretation of the court’s order would spark further legal action by opponents of the ban.

The guidance gave several examples of what might constitute a bona fide relationship with a US entity, and said broad categories would be exempt from the travel ban, such as those eligible for student visas, “as their bona fide relationship to a person or entity is inherent in the visa classification.”

Similarly, those eligible for family or employment based immigrant visa applications are exempt from the travel ban, the cable said.

The cable said “a worker who accepted an offer of employment from a company in the United States or a lecturer invited to address an audience in the United States would be exempt” from the travel ban, but someone who simply made a hotel reservation would not count as someone with a bona fide relationship.

Trump’s executive order also imposed a 120-day ban on entry to the United States by refugees. Monday’s Supreme Court order, however, said the ban did not cover those refugees “who can credibly claim a bona fide relationship with a person or entity” in the United States.

The State Department guidance was unclear on what US refugee agencies regard as a key question: whether their own dealings with refugees applying to come to the United States constituted a bona fide relationship.

The cable said that consulates should continue to interview applicants for so-called diversity visas, which are granted to individuals from countries that typically do not send many immigrants to the United States. In 2015, around 10,500 citizens from the six banned countries were selected for the diversity visa lottery, according to State Department figures.

The travel ban will likely bar such visas for citizens of the six countries, the cable acknowledged, stating that “we anticipate that very few DV applicants are likely to be exempt from the EO’s suspension of entry or to qualify for a waiver.”

On Monday, the Supreme Court partially lifted lower court injunctions against Trump’s executive order that had temporarily banned visas for citizens of the six countries.

Senior officials from the departments of State, Justice and Homeland Security had labored since the decision to clarify the ruling and Wednesday’s instructions were the result. The new guidance will remain in place until the Supreme Court issues a final ruling on the matter. Arguments before the justices will not be held until at least October, so the interim rules will remain in place at least until the fall.

Shortly after taking office, Trump ordered the refugee ban and a travel ban affecting the six countries, plus Iraq. He said it was needed to protect the US from terrorists, but opponents said it was unfairly harsh and was intended to meet his campaign promise to keep Muslims out of the United States.

After a federal judge struck down the bans, Trump signed a revised order intended to overcome legal hurdles. That was also struck down by lower courts, but the Supreme Court’s action Monday partially reinstated it.