List of citizenships refused entry to foreign states

Some sovereign states refuse entry to all citizens of certain states. These restrictions differ from travel visa requirements, which require travelers to obtain permission to enter a country in advance of their travel. With few exceptions, citizens of the states in this list are prohibited from entering the corresponding listed states. Such prohibitions are often referred to as travel bans, although that term can have other meanings.

List of travel bans by refused citizenship

Citizenship	Refused by	Notes	References
Abkhazia	All except: Russia Transnistria South Ossetia Nicaragua Venezuela Nauru Tuvalu Syria	See also: Abkhaz–Georgian conflict and Political status of Abkhazia Abkhazia has limited recognition. Abkhazians may also apply for a Russian passport.	[1]
Afghanistan	USA	See also: Restricting the Entry of Foreign Nationals to Protect the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats	[2]
Armenia	Azerbaijan	See also: Nagorno-Karabakh conflict Due to a state of war with Armenia, the government of Azerbaijan has banned the entry and transit of Armenian nationals, as well as citizens of any other country who are of Armenian descent (including Armenian Russians), to the Republic of Azerbaijan.	[3][4][5][6][7] [needs update]
Bangladesh	Sudan		[8]
Chad	USA	See also: Restricting the Entry of Foreign Nationals to Protect the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats	[9]
Equatorial Guinea	USA	See also: Restricting the Entry of Foreign Nationals to Protect the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats	[10]
Bangladesh	Libya	See also: Second Libyan Civil War Since April 2017, nationals of these countries are banned from entering eastern Libya, which is under control by the Tobruk government. Other nationals who do not possess a valid visa or residence permit will also be refused entry.	[3][11][12]
Iran
Pakistan
Sudan
Syria
Yemen
Belarus	Ascension Island	Starting from May 2015, the Ascension Island Government no longer issues entry visas to 13 nationals. This restriction also applies to e-visas introduced in 2018.	[13]
China
Egypt
Hong Kong
Iran
Libya
Macau
North Korea
Russia
Syria
Taiwan
Ukraine
Vietnam
Eritrea	USA	See also: Restricting the Entry of Foreign Nationals to Protect the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats	[14]
Ethiopia	Kuwait	Since 2018, domestic workers from Ethiopia have been able to work in Kuwait.	[15][8]
Haiti	Suriname USA		[16][17]
Iran	Libya Syria USA
Israel	Afghanistan Algeria Bangladesh Brunei Iran Kuwait Lebanon Libya Syria Yemen	See also: Foreign relations of Israel, International recognition of Israel, and Countries that do not accept Israeli passports Israeli nationals, including Israeli Arabs, are refused entry into these countries. These countries do not recognize the State of Israel; therefore Israeli passport holders are denied entry, yet some countries that do not recognize the State of Israel do not deny entry of Israeli citizens (e.g. Indonesia or Somalia). Citizens of foreign countries with passports containing Israeli stamps or Egyptian/Jordanian stamps issued at border crossings with Israel are also refused entry into certain countries.	[3]
	Iraq	Except Iraqi Kurdistan.	[18]
	Maldives	Temporarily measure put in place since 15 April 2025 by the Maldivian government, in response to the Gaza war.	[19][20][21]
	Malaysia	Unless a clearance permit is obtained from the Ministry of Home Affairs.
	Oman	Except for transit.
	Pakistan	Unless a visa and police registration are obtained.
	Saudi Arabia	Except for religious and business purposes.
Kosovo	Serbia	Serbia does not recognize the 2008 Kosovo declaration of independence and Kosovan passports are invalid for entry to Serbia; however, Kosovo identity cards are allowed to enter and exit both Serbia and Kosovo.
	Armenia Azerbaijan Belarus Cuba Georgia Hong Kong Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Moldova Russia Seychelles Syria Tajikistan Turkmenistan Uzbekistan Venezuela	See also: Political status of Kosovo These countries and territories do not recognise the independence of Kosovo and therefore, Kosovo passports are not recognized as legitimate and legal passports. Although not recognizing their independence, some countries, such as Ukraine,[22] allow entry for the holders of Kosovo ordinary passports.	[3]
Libya	USA	See also: Restricting the Entry of Foreign Nationals to Protect the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats	[23]
Myanmar	USA	See also: Restricting the Entry of Foreign Nationals to Protect the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats	[24]
Northern Cyprus	All except: Equatorial Guinea France Guinea Kenya Libya Pakistan Turkey United States United Kingdom	See also: Political status of Northern Cyprus and Cyprus problem Northern Cyprus is only recognized as a sovereign state by Turkey. Northern Cypriots may also apply for a Turkish passport and a Cypriot passport.	[citation needed]
North Korea	Japan	See also: Japan–North Korea relations and Korean conflict Japan has banned North Korean citizens from entering as part of sanctions against North Korea imposed by the Government of Japan, since February 2016.	Sanctions against North Korea[25]
Congo (Brazzaville)	USA	See also: Restricting the Entry of Foreign Nationals to Protect the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats	[26]
Russia	Belgium Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland Iceland Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Netherlands Norway Poland Slovakia	As a result of the Russian Invasion of Ukraine. Russian citizens are refused entry into specific countries for tourism, culture, business, sports or etc. However, they can legally transit through by obtaining a Schengen Visa from countries such as France, Germany or Spain when refused entry into these countries.	[27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36]
Somalia	Pakistan	Under the New Visa Policy initiated by ex-Prime Minister Imran Khan, Somalia remains in the B-list. Somali citizens coming from abroad will no longer qualify for visas from embassies of Pakistan. Somali students and families living in Pakistan must possess a recommendation letter and visa extended permission from the government of Pakistan. Police registration is required within 7 days of getting a visa from the government.	[37]
	Australia Canada Czech Republic Germany Greece Hungary Iceland New Zealand Spain USA	In addition, ordinary passports issued by Somalia are not recognized in Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg (Benelux countries), Denmark, Finland, Liechtenstein, Sweden and Switzerland. These countries only recognise Somali diplomatic passports issued after 2014, according to the EU's Public Register Of Authentic Travel And Identity Documents Online (PRADO).	[3][38][39]
Somaliland	All except: Djibouti Ethiopia France Kenya Malaysia South Africa Saudi Arabia South Sudan Taiwan Tanzania Turkey United Arab Emirates United Kingdom Zambia	See also: Foreign relations of Somaliland Somaliland is not internationally recognized. Somalilanders may apply for a Somali passport.	[40][41][42][43]
South Ossetia	All except: Russia Abkhazia Transnistria Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic Nicaragua Venezuela Nauru Syria	See also: Russo-Georgian War and Political status of South Ossetia South Ossetia has limited recognition. South Ossetians may also apply for a Russian passport.	[citation needed]
Sudan	USA	See also: Restricting the Entry of Foreign Nationals to Protect the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats	[44]
Syria	Egypt Libya Mali		[45][46]
Taiwan	Georgia Moldova Somalia	See also: Political status of Taiwan and One China Additionally, some countries do not recognize Taiwanese passports, which makes it difficult for Taiwanese passport holders to obtain visas from those countries, despite Timatic suggesting that Taiwanese citizens can enter. Venezuela and Cuba are one of the noticeable examples in 2024.[47][48]	[46]
Transnistria	All except: Abkhazia South Ossetia	See also: 2006 Transnistrian customs crisis and Transnistria conflict Transnistria has limited diplomatic recognition. Transnistrians may also apply for Russian, Ukrainian, Moldovan and Romanian passports.	[49][50][51]
Ukraine	Transnistria
Yemen	USA	See also: Restricting the Entry of Foreign Nationals to Protect the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats	[52]

See also

• Executive Order 13769
• Executive Order 13780
• Travel ban