Highlights:
The United States has flagged Yemen, Somalia and Libya as ‘countries of concern’ under its visa waiver program through the US Department of Homeland Security.
The move will make the US visa procedures more individuals seeking visa to travel to the US from the nations herein mentioned and those who have visited those nations in the past 5 years.
Summary:
The new restrictions were imposed under a law passed after the November attacks in Paris attributed to Islamic State. Citizens of U.S. allies who previously had been able to travel to the United States without first obtaining a visa now will have to apply to U.S. consulates for such visas if they have traveled to those designated countries in the past five years.
However, the provisions will not automatically affect nationals from visa-waiver countries who have dual citizenship of Yemen, Somalia and Libya. These three countries join Iran, Iraq, Sudan and Syria who have already been exposed to the stringent restrictions for those seeking to travel to the US.
These measures have been set up to curb radicals and extremists from travelling to the US disguised as regular visitors only for them to conduct terrorist attacks. Other US allies are taking the same precautions especially after the series of Islamic attacks on France and a number of other allies the need to monitor and flag suspicious individuals was realized. Somalia is currently battling al Qaeda affiliates- Al Shabaab, Libya is currentlu battling ISIS while Yemen has been in war characterized by Houthi rebels and its proximity to Somalia makes it susceptible.
