The new visa rules, which target foreigners who are citizens of or who have traveled to Iraq, Iran, Syria or Sudan, were accidentally posted and subsequently removed from the U.S. Embassy in Britain's website. | AP Photo New U.S. visa rules will have some Iran exceptions, irking GOP

The U.S. announced Thursday that it has begun applying controversial new visa restrictions on foreigners who have traveled to or are dual nationals of Iran, Iraq, Syria and Sudan.

The new rules will have some exceptions for people who have visited any of those four countries for business, government, humanitarian or journalistic reasons. But they are not clear as to how the U.S. will define dual nationality, which is likely to further frustrate members of the Iranian, Iraqi, Sudanese and Syrian diaspora — many of whom have never visited those four countries.


Republicans, spurred by their opposition to the Iran nuclear deal, were angered by the administration's exemptions. Some GOP lawmakers had already warned the Obama administration to take a hard line on the visa rules as they pertain to Iran.

“The risk of terrorism emanating from these countries means that any such people who want to come to the United States must face strict scrutiny when applying for a visa," House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said in a statement. "President Obama’s decision to grant blanket waivers to these people flies in the face of Congress’s intent, and the administration knows that."

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) and Rep. Candice Miller (R-Mich.), who wrote the visa-waiver law, accused the administration of "blatantly breaking the law."

"This is not a difference of opinion over statutory interpretation, it is a clear contradiction of the law and the agreement we reached with the White House," they said in a joint statement. "President Obama is again putting his relationship with Iran’s supreme leader over the security of Americans."

POLITICO reported on the new rules early Thursday, well ahead of the official mid-day announcement, because the U.S. embassies in Germany and Britain accidentally, and temporarily, posted them on their websites. The administration, meanwhile, briefed congressional staffers Thursday morning about its plans.

The new restrictions apply to the Visa Waiver Program, and they were passed by Congress in December and signed into law by President Barack Obama. Their stated goal is to prevent potential terrorists from exploiting U.S. visa rules to stage attacks on America.

But they have drawn criticism by many who say they will mainly hurt aid workers, journalists and people who do business with those countries, not to mention numerous European citizens and others of Iranian, Iraqi, Syrian and Sudanese descent. Just this week, a British journalist with the BBC was turned back from a flight to the U.S. because of her Iranian roots.

Europe also is likely to impose similar restrictions on Americans because of the reciprocal nature of the Visa Waiver Program, which allows citizens of 38 countries, most of them in Europe, to temporarily visit the U.S. without a visa.

According to the information posted Thursday, anyone from those 38 countries who has visited Iran, Iraq, Syria or Sudan since March 1, 2011, now has to get a visa before being allowed to visit the United States.

There are some exceptions, however, subject to a decision by the Department of Homeland Security.

Journalists from the 38 countries who have visited Iran, Iraq, Syria and Sudan for work will not necessarily be required to get a visa. Aid workers also can be eligible for waivers.

The rules also carve out an exception for people who have visited Iran for "legitimate business-related purposes" after the Iran nuclear deal was agreed upon in July 2015.

This is key because Iranian officials have alleged the new visa rules violate the recently implemented nuclear deal by undermining Iran's economy — European, Japanese and other business officials will be less likely to visit Iran if they fear they could be rejected for a visa to the United States.

In response to the GOP criticism, State Department spokesman Mark Toner insisted that the exceptions will be determined on a case-by-case basis and fully vetted by multiple agencies.

The rules offer an exception for people who have traveled to Iraq for business, presumably because seeing Iraq's economy grow is in America's interest if it is to become a stable Middle Eastern country without a U.S. troop presence.

But people who have traveled to Syria, which is in the midst of a civil war, or Sudan are not offered business exceptions. Like Iraq, Syria has seen much of its territory gobbled up by jihadists with the Islamic State. Thousands of foreign fighters from Europe have joined the terrorist group, many of them with passports that could allow them to visit the United States without a visa.

The new rules do not specify how the U.S. will define dual nationality. That's particularly worrisome for many would-be visitors to the United States because dual nationality is a complicated area of law with no international agreement to cover it.

The administration's announcement states that the U.S. "will continue to explore whether and how the waivers [to the new visa requirement] can be used for dual nationals of Iraq, Syria, Iran and Sudan."

Asked how they could allow the law to take effect without offering clear guidance on dual nationality, a Homeland Security spokesman said the U.S. in late February would update forms involved in the process with questions that will help "in making individual determinations."

The Obama administration has supported bipartisan efforts in Congress to repeal the dual nationality provision of the visa law, but for now it must proceed under the existing legislation.

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) is among the lawmakers trying to get rid of the dual nationality provision. He said Thursday that he was still trying to "digest" the administration's plans, but that when it comes to dual nationality, "I’d rather deal with a legislative fix than just executive action, but I think that they need to have some discretion there."

Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois has joined Flake in the effort to get rid of the dual nationality provisions. In a statement Thursday, he said, "Singling people out because of their national origin is fundamentally at odds with American values and invites discrimination against American citizens who are dual nationals."

Toner, the State Department spokesman, insisted, "Nobody is trying to make these people ... some kind of scapegoat. To the contrary, this is something that's being done in the interest of increasing the security of Americans and we're going to make every effort to accommodate these individuals who are affected by this change through other means."

People from the 38 countries who wish to travel to the United States must — as they have for years — first fill out a form through the Department of Homeland Security's Electronic System for Travel Authorization, which will tell them if they must apply for a visa or can travel to the U.S. without one.

Those who are told to get a visa "will be required to appear for an interview and obtain a visa in their passports at a U.S. embassy or consulate before traveling to the United States," according to the administration.

The announcement Thursday did not delve into how much the visa fees would be or how long the process would take.

Seung-Min Kim contributed to this report.