UMD Community Voices Concern as New Palestinian Visa Rules Take Effect

(UNITED STATES) The Trump administration on August 18, 2025 put in place new U.S. restrictions that make it extremely hard for most Palestinian Authority passport holders to obtain a U.S. visa for tourism, study, medical care, or business. Two days earlier, the State Department halted visas for wounded Palestinians from Gaza seeking treatment in the U.S., a move that aid groups say affects many children.

In a related step ahead of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio denied and revoked visas for members of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and other Palestinian officials, including the revocation of the Palestinian president’s visa. The administration says these actions avoid “rewarding terrorism,” citing longstanding U.S. law tied to the PLO.

New Policy: Scope and Implementation

• Effective date: August 18, 2025
• Scope: Officially targets Palestinian Authority passport holders; however, it also severely affects Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank who lack PA passports.
• Medical visas: Suspended, with no public exceptions announced.
• Public guidance: None — the policy is enforced administratively through consular instructions.
• Review/appeals: No special appeals or waivers have been announced.

Consular officers have been instructed to apply heightened scrutiny and a presumption of ineligibility to Palestinian applicants. Although no formal regulation number was published, the policy is already in force. Officials have not released public guidance or an FAQ, leaving applicants to face sudden, sweeping barriers with little clarity on exceptions.

How the Visa Process Is Affected

Applicants still must follow the standard nonimmigrant process beginning with the DS-160 form. The State Department’s DS-160 page remains the required first step: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/forms/ds-160-online-nonimmigrant-visa-application.html

Key changes in practice:

1. After submitting the DS-160, applicants schedule interviews at U.S. embassies/consulates.
2. Interviews now involve heightened scrutiny and a presumption of denial.
3. Denials are typically final because there is no formal appeal system for most visa refusals.
4. Applicants may reapply, but with the same policy in place, approvals are expected to remain extremely rare.

Humanitarian and Academic Impact

The humanitarian consequences are immediate and severe.

• The United Nations reports that Gaza has the largest cohort of child amputees in modern history. The halt on medical visas prevents many families from bringing injured children to U.S. hospitals for complex surgeries and rehabilitation.
• Universities warn of lost academic exchange, research interruptions, and reduced campus diversity. At the University of Maryland, students and faculty say the policy:
  • Curbs campus diversity
  • Interrupts research plans
  • Blocks family visits and attendance at ceremonies
• Professor Nadine Sahyoun (Nutrition and Food Science) emphasized the loss to the academic community and the new limits facing Palestinian students and scholars.
• Families with U.S. ties can no longer reliably reunite for weddings, funerals, births, and urgent care. Business travel is also stalled, affecting conferences and partnership meetings.
• U.S. hospitals and NGOs that coordinated care for Palestinian patients report programs must pause with no clear workaround.

University impacts include:

• Potential enrollment drops as admitted Palestinian students may not obtain visas.
• Research disruptions from missing collaborators and canceled visits.
• Admissions and international offices advising students but unable to override federal visa decisions.

Practical Effects for Applicants

• Consular practice appears consistent across posts: officers are instructed to deny visas absent extraordinary circumstances.
• Applicants face a steep evidentiary burden to show:
  • Strong ties to home country
  • Clear purpose of travel
  • Means to fund their stay
• These standards, already rigorous prior to August 18, now function as a near-total barrier for many Palestinians.
• Applicants without Palestinian Authority passports are also encountering severe obstacles during screening, even though the policy language focuses on official passport holders.

Legal and Diplomatic Context

• Secretary Rubio’s visa revocations build on existing laws that restrict visas for the PLO and certain officials.
• Revoking the Palestinian president’s visa before the UN General Assembly signals a hardened approach toward Palestinian political actors.
• Diplomats say these actions will further strain U.S.-Palestinian relations and complicate future diplomacy.
• The administration frames the steps as driven by security and legal mandates; critics argue the policy is overly broad and punishes people who pose no risk.

“The medical visa halt is especially harsh given the high number of injured children in Gaza,” say student groups and humanitarian advocates, including Students for Justice in Palestine at Maryland.

Outlook, Challenges, and Next Steps

• There is no public sign of court challenges yet, though advocacy groups and affected families are weighing legal options—particularly over the halt to medical visas.
• Policy reversals would likely require a change in executive direction.
• Schools, hospitals, and aid organizations are documenting cases and pressing for humanitarian exceptions.
• Officials have not announced timelines for review or sunset.

For people who still wish to apply, the State Department’s general visa hub provides official process information and updates: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas.html
However, Palestinian applicants should expect very low approval rates until the policy changes.

Families and institutions may consider:

• Planning for extended separation
• Exploring care options in third countries (bearing additional cost and risk)
• Universities and NGOs collecting data on withdrawals, deferrals, and canceled medical referrals to support advocacy and possible legal challenges

Human Cost: Concrete Examples

• A student cannot get her father to attend a thesis defense.
• A child with complex injuries loses a surgery slot that took months to arrange.
• A scientist misses a conference panel that would have launched a joint project.

These are daily realities for thousands of Palestinians now shaped by a policy that centers travel decisions on tightened security aims with significant humanitarian consequences.

Summary: What to Watch For

• Continued documentation by universities, hospitals, and aid groups of affected cases.
• Any announcements of humanitarian exceptions, appeals processes, or policy reversals.
• Potential legal challenges from advocacy groups or affected families.
• International reactions from U.S. allies and partners observing broader U.S. immigration trends.

For official updates and procedural information, see the State Department visa hub: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas.html