US State Department has said most visa applicants, who were denied due to former President Donald Trump’s travel ban on 13 mostly Muslim-majority and African countries, can seek new decisions or submit new applications.
It would be recalled that President Joe Biden overturned Trump’s Muslim ban on January 20, his first day in office, calling it “a stain on our national conscience” in his proclamation.
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In a follow up development, State Department spokesman, Ned Price in a statement on Monday has now said applicants who were refused visas prior to January 20, 2020, can submit new applications and pay a new application fee, Reuters reports.
Additionally, Price stated that those who were denied on or after January 20, may seek reconsideration without re-submitting their applications and do not have to pay additional fees.
He however said applicants selected in diversity visa lottery prior to the current fiscal year are barred by U.S. law from being issued visas if they have not gotten them already.
The diversity lottery aims to accept immigrants from countries that are not normally awarded many visas.
Since December 2017, after a revised version of the original travel ban was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, some 40,000 people have been barred from entering the United States under the ban, according to State Department data.
During Trump’s administration, some countries were added and others dropped from the list. At the end of Trump’s presidency, the list comprised of Nigeria, Myanmar, Eritrea, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Venezuela and Yemen.
