Transcript of the above video: 

You know, these Trump Administrations, I end up having a lot of news in the US Immigration sort of funnel of this channel that I don't otherwise have, or I didn't under Biden and I didn't prior to that under Obama. Take that for what you will by the way. There are certain aspects of that I actually like, for example I really like to watch my country of my birth actually enforce their Immigration Laws and not just let people just flood over the Border like some kind of invasion. At the same time, I've had serious qualms about the way this Administration has handled legal US Immigration, both in the first term and now. I think they go overboard, and I think oftentimes there's maybe, if it's not conscious it's sort of like 'well we can't mess with those illegals, but we can mess with these people that are sort of already in our clutches'. Again, I'm not trying to attribute to nefariousness or something, I don't think it's actually there, but people are just people, and they do what they do. 

That said, I thought of making this video after reading a recent article on aljazeera.com, the article is titled: Trump pauses Immigration from 'Third World' Countries: What that means. Quoting directly: "In June, to "protect the United States from foreign terrorists and other national security and public safety threats" the Trump Administration announced that foreign nationals from 19 countries would face a full travel ban or partial restrictions." Quoting further: "Countries with a full ban in place are Afghanistan, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Myanmar, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. Those with a partial ban in place - some temporary visas are still allowed - are Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela." Those are the list; Al Jazeera gets into that. I'm specifically talking about Laos nationals for purposes of this video who are subject to some level of a ban, partial or otherwise. And any of these nationalities, look the underlying facts in the case, presumably none of them are going to necessarily be able to be processed in for a Visa but again some are on a full ban, some are on a partial ban, so it depends on the facts of the case.

That said, going over here to state.gov, that's travel.state.gov, under the headline: Suspension of Visa issuance to Foreign Nationals to protect the United States from Foreign Terrorists and other National Security and Public Safety Threats. Quoting directly: "Also effective June 9, 2025 at 12:01 a.m. EDT, in line with the Presidential Proclamation on "Restricting the Entry of Foreign Nationals to Protect the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats," the Department of State is partially suspending Visa issuance to nationals of Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela for Non-immigrant B-1/B-2 Visas and F, M, and J student and exchange visitor visas, and all Immigrant visas with limited exceptions for:

• Certain immediate relative immigrant visas (spouses, children and parents of U.S. citizens): - so K-1 Fiancé(e) Visas are treated as if they are an Immigrant Spouse Visa for legal purposes. So for processing purposes for example K-1 Visas are handled by the Immigrant Visa Unit. And the thing to take away from this video again, quoting directly from the State Department:
• Certain immediate relative (spouses, children, and parents of US citizens)” are exceptions to the ban - that's what's important to point out. Quoting further:
• Adoptions by US citizens
• Immigrant visas for ethnic and religious minorities facing persecution in Iran
• Dual nationals applying with a passport nationality are not subject to a suspension

So again, if you have a Laos National for example that has some other nationality. Quoting further: 

• Special immigrant visas for US government employees 
• Participants in certain major sporting events  
• Lawful permanent residents 

So if you hold a Green Card, this ban does not directly deal with you. 

Now that said, the point of this video is how does this pertain to Laos nationals? Well we do process not an insignificant number of Laos passport holders, oftentimes through the Embassy here in Bangkok because they often live and work here in Thailand, but not always. We may have to send them back to Vientiane, Laos to process out of the Embassy there.

But long story short, and the thing to take away from this video is at least as of the time of this video, the family based Visa categories for fiancés and spouses as well as children of US citizens and possibly Lawful Permanent Residents, depending on the facts of the case, again these are not being disturbed; these are exceptions to the ban as it pertains to Laos and Laos nationals. That being said, we will certainly be keeping you updated on this channel as the situation evolves.