In June 2025, the US administration issued a warning to 36 nations that they could face a total travel ban under Donald Trump’s progressive tightening of entry rules. They were mostly African countries but Cambodia was one of the finger-pointed group. Thailand was not mentioned in the warning circular, but Laos was separately listed as a country facing a partial ban on visas to US.
Each of the 36 nations were given 60 days to explain why they should be exempted from a near-total visa ban. Various reasons for Trump’s proclamation were given including terrorism and anti-semitic behavior. However, the accusations against Cambodia were more likely the claim that many visitors, with visas issued in Phnom Penh, were apparently overstaying their permitted time. The State Department also suggested that the security of some nations’ passports was “questionable”, a possible hint at fraud at the issuing stage.
So far as is known, the Phnom Penh authorities did not react officially to the proclamation. However, the US embassy website in Phnom Penh at the same time posted a notice that applicants for longer stay visas (study, employment, business) needed to change their privacy settings on social media accounts to allow checking. This particular notice appeared on the US embassy websites in some other countries, including Thailand, which had not otherwise been listed in this context.
The US State Department has now proclaimed that, effective August 20, two of the 36 countries – Malawi and Zambia – must lodge a separate bond at the time of application for most visas. The bond (returnable if no problems) varies from US$5,000 to US$15,000, to be determined by visa officers when the application is lodged. Nationals from the two African countries, if they survive the visa application scrutiny, can arrive only at three specific airports in Boston, Washington and New York.
However, the US authorities stress that the new rules for nationals of Malawi and Zambia are pilot schemes which could be extended more broadly. Given the recent involvement of the United States in the Thai-Cambodian domestic affairs, travel agencies are advising nationals of the two countries to keep a close eye on any more proclamations which could either restrict or simplify entry to the United States.
