How Do Trump’s New Policies, Travel Bans, and Visa Changes Impact Travel?

Asylum seekers and family-sponsored immigrants now have to pay much more. 

• A Temporary Protected Status (TPS) application now costs $500 (up from $50).

• Many humanitarian applicants, such as asylum seekers, are now required to pay a $100 annual fee while their case is pending.

• Employment Authorization Document (EAD) fees for those with pending asylum or TPS applications increased to $550 for initial applications and $275 for renewals.

However, the scope of the fee hikes extends well beyond immigration, influencing all categories of travelers entering the US.

The changes from President Trump’s new Big Beautiful Bill affect fees for nearly everyone entering or staying in the country, including students, tourists, and business travelers. 

• All non-immigrant visas (e.g., tourist, student, work visas) now carry a non-waivable “Visa Integrity Fee” of $250, making the US far more expensive to visit. For example, a business traveler or tourist who previously paid only $160 per person for a ten-year visa must now pay an additional $250 fee. 

• Anyone filing a Form I-94 (arrival/departure record) pays a new $24 charge. 

• The Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) fee for visa-waiver travelers doubled from $21 to $40.

Although these changes raise costs for most visitors, certain nations are now completely barred from entering the US.

President Trump expanded America’s travel restrictions to cover 19 countries: Afghanistan, Burundi, Chad, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Myanmar, the Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, Turkmenistan, Venezuela, and Yemen. 

These changes affect approximately 430 million people worldwide, restricting travel for those who once came to the US for family visits, study, or tourism.

Citizens from these nations can no longer apply for tourist or immigrant visas, with very few exceptions for humanitarian or diplomatic cases.

Two-thirds of the affected countries are in Africa and the Middle East. In 2024, people from these regions received more than 160,000 visas to enter the US—opportunities now largely off the table.

While travel restrictions have hit many distant countries, the strained relationship with Canada is also having a significant impact on US travel.

The number of Canadian residents returning by car from the US fell nearly 35 percent year-over-year in September 2025, according to Statistics Canada. 

Marking the ninth consecutive month of decline, air travel followed a similar trend, with flights from Canada to the US down 27 percent compared to the same month in 2024. 

Travel in the opposite direction also fell, though less dramatically—US trips to Canada are down about 5.3 percent.

The so-called “Tariff of Trump 2.0” dispute is a key reason for the cooling cross-border traffic.

The renewed tariffs, paired with tense political rhetoric from the Trump administration, including remarks questioning Canada’s sovereignty, fueled widespread backlash, as many Canadians launched boycotts against American products and essentially travel to the US. 

According to Tourism Economics, overseas arrivals to the US have fallen sharply. Earlier forecasts predicted international visits would grow by over 9 percent in 2025, but that outlook has since reversed: arrivals are now expected to decline by about 8.2 percent for the year. 

The drop is largely driven by weaker demand from Europe and Asia, along with a stronger US dollar, which makes visiting America more expensive.

As a result, total inbound travel spending is projected to shrink by roughly $8.3 billion in 2025 alone.