President Trump’s suspension of travel from seven countries won’t affect dual nationals who present a passport from another U.S.-allied country, Department of Homeland Security officials announced Tuesday.
“Travelers will be assessed at our border based on the passport they present, not any dual national status,” Kevin McAleenan, the acting commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, told reporters on Tuesday. “So if you’re a citizen of the United Kingdom, you present your United Kingdom passport, the executive order does not apply to you upon arrival.”
That’s a reversal from the first weekend of the order’s implementation, when officials scrambled to implement a ban on most travel from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
“[T]ravelers who have nationality or dual nationality of one of these countries will not be permitted for 90 days to enter the United States or be issued an immigrant or nonimmigrant visa,” a State Department official told the Washington Examiner on Saturday. “Those nationals or dual nationals holding valid immigrant or nonimmigrant visas will not be permitted to enter the United States during this period.”
That initial guidance frustrated allies, particularly in the United Kingdom, as Prime Minister Theresa May had concluded a visit to the United States earlier last week. After calling the order “divisive and wrong,” U.K. Foreign Minister Boris Johnson announced the order would not apply to British citizens.
“If you are a U.K. national who happens to be traveling from one of those countries to the U.S., then the order does not apply to you, even if you were born in one of those countries,” Johnson said.
That policy is already being implemented for other allies, such as Israel.
“If you have a currently valid U.S. visa in your Israeli passport and were born in Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, or Yemen, and do not have a valid passport from one of these countries, your visa was not cancelled and remains valid,” the U.S. Embassy in Israel announced. “Similarly, we continue to process visa applications for applicants born in those countries, so long as they do not have a valid passport from one of those countries and have not otherwise declared themselves to be a national of one of those countries. Authorization to enter the United States is always determined at the port of entry. We have no further information at this time.”
