Trump DHS allowing foreign doctors to obtain visas amid travel ban
The Trump governance has exempted foreign medical doctors from its travel ban covering more than three dozen countries, allowing doctors applying from outside the U.S. too keep pursuing visas. The change came after the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration services updated its website to reverse a January policy, and it was made without any formal proclamation.
DHS said medical-physician-related applications would continue processing, though the update applies only to foreign applicants outside the country-not people already in the U.S., whose immigration situations may still be uncertain. The article also notes that the move arrives amid a projected U.S. doctor shortage, with healthcare workforce estimates predicting deficits rising sharply in coming decades.
The underlying travel restrictions remain in place for othre categories of travelers, with both full and partial bans affecting many listed countries, including Afghanistan and others, as well as certain individuals holding Palestinian authority documents.
The Trump administration has exempted foreign doctors from its travel ban against citizens of more than three dozen countries, a move that will allow medical professionals outside the United States to obtain visas, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
Late last week, the DHS agency U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services updated its website to reflect the reversal of a January policy that had barred government employees from making decisions on green cards, visa extensions, and work permits for citizens from 39 countries included in the travel ban.
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“Applications associated with medical physicians will continue processing,” the DHS told the New York Times, which first reported the development on Sunday.
The change was made without any formal announcement. It comes as the U.S. faces a major doctor shortage. The Health Resources and Services Administration estimates a shortage of more than 113,000 doctors by 2028, ticking up to more than 141,000 by 2038.
The policy change will only affect foreign medical workers applying from outside the country, not those already in the country, whose immigration status may also be in limbo.
A total of 39 countries face either a partial or full ban on traveling to the U.S.
Trump first imposed a travel ban on seven countries in 2017. The travel ban was expanded late last year following a shooting targeting National Guard members near the White House while on assignment as part of the president’s anti-crime initiative.
The suspect was arrested and identified as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a citizen of Afghanistan who worked with the CIA during the war and was airlifted out of Kabul by U.S. forces in 2021. He was granted asylum in 2025.
Former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in December that a forthcoming travel ban extension could include more than 30 countries, beyond the nearly 20 countries already on the list at the time.
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The full travel ban is in effect against Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Burma, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Mali, Niger, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Yemen, and for individuals with Palestinian Authority documents.
The partial ban affects citizens of Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Burundi, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Dominica, Gabon, The Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Togo, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Venezuela, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
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