Ebola Travel Ban Extended to Dec. 10 for Green Card Holders

The federal Ebola travel ban has been renewed through Dec. 10 and still reaches green card holders, but the regulation that lets it cover them is set to run out first.

The Ebola travel ban on people who were recently in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda or South Sudan has been extended for another 30 days, and lawful permanent residents remain covered. Assistant Secretary for Health Adm. Brian Christine signed the continuation on Nov. 9, it took effect at 5 p.m. Eastern on Nov. 10, and the version filed for Federal Register publication on Nov. 13 runs through 4:59 p.m. on Dec. 10. Only U.S. citizens and nationals are exempt by status. Everyone else who was in any of the three countries during the previous 21 days, whatever their nationality, is barred from entry unless a narrow exception applies.

The renewal, which replaces the October continuation, was expected. What is new is the calendar: the order now outlasts the legal basis for applying it to green card holders.

A Nov. 27 sunset inside a Dec. 10 order

Until May, the quarantine regulation at 42 CFR 71.40 shielded permanent residents from any entry suspension under sections 362 and 365 of the Public Health Service Act. An HHS interim final rule published May 27 narrowed that protection to citizens and nationals. The rule carries its own expiration: unless extended after HHS considers public comments, it ends six months after publication or sooner if the secretary decides it is no longer needed, with the end date announced in the Federal Register. Six months from May 27 falls on Nov. 27, based on the rule’s publication date.

No extension, final rule or expiration notice had appeared in the Federal Register as of Nov. 12, and the new order simply says permanent resident coverage is governed by the separate 71.40 rulemaking.

HHS could extend or finalize the rule before Nov. 27, keeping green card holders inside the ban. Or it could let the rule lapse, as it did with an earlier interim rule of the same name whose expiration it announced on Dec. 4, 2025. A lapse would restore the old exemption, and the practical effect would be that permanent residents fall outside the ban partway through the current order. Given the case trend, an extension is the more likely outcome, but HHS has said nothing publicly.

The number of people with a stake is real. About 84,000 people born in the three countries became permanent residents from fiscal 2014 through 2023, a calculation from Department of Homeland Security yearbook tables. Many have since naturalized, and the ban turns on where a person has been rather than on birthplace, so that figure measures the diaspora, not the number blocked.

What the outbreak numbers show

The order’s own figures explain the renewal. In the month between the October and November orders, confirmed cases in Congo rose about 26 percent and deaths about 27 percent, based on the numbers HHS reported. The outbreak also reached North Ubangi province, and Nigeria confirmed a case on Oct. 20.

Measure (Congo)	As of Oct. 5	As of Nov. 6
Confirmed cases	8,665	10,879
Deaths	4,178	5,302
Affected health zones	64	67

Source: CDC/HHS Title 42 continuation orders signed Oct. 9 and Nov. 9, 2026. Percentage changes in the text are calculations from these figures.

Contact tracing reached 84 percent, short of the 95 percent target, and the order warns the true caseload is likely undercounted. CDC’s situation summary put the total at 11,021 confirmed cases and 5,358 deaths across all affected countries as of Nov. 8, including nine cases and two deaths in Kenya. On Nov. 11 the World Health Organization’s director-general said Kenya had discharged its last patient and begun a 42-day countdown to being declared free of the outbreak.

The country list did not change. Uganda stays covered although its 42-day monitoring window closed Aug. 27, and South Sudan, with no confirmed cases, is still treated as high-risk. Kenya is not on the list despite its cases.

The exceptions are also unchanged: U.S. military and government personnel overseas and their families, case-by-case exceptions by a customs officer with supervisor approval, and provisional CDC exceptions confirmed by a health check at entry. A 21-day stay in a fourth country still moves a traveler outside the order. Separately, every air traveler bound for the United States has had to sign the Congo attestation since Nov. 3, a requirement that extends to crew and now runs through Dec. 18.

Dates to track

Nov. 13: Federal Register publication of the continuation (FR Doc. 2026-23114, docket CDC-2026-0892), which opens a 15-day comment window closing around Nov. 28.
Nov. 27: six months after publication of the interim rule covering permanent residents, unless HHS extends it.
Dec. 10, 4:59 p.m. Eastern: the entry order expires unless renewed again.
Dec. 18: the air traveler attestation order ends unless extended.

This article is for general information and is not legal advice.

Sources

Vasanth Vaidyanathan, Esq.

Administrator

Vasanth Vaidyanathan is an immigration attorney with over 20 years of experience focused exclusively on U.S. immigration and nationality law. He holds an LL.M. from California Western School of Law, San Diego and advises individuals and businesses on employment and family-based immigration matters, including H-1B, PERM, EB categories, and adjustment of status. He has also been a featured speaker at immigration seminars across the U.S. To reach Vasanth visit: https://www.vnathan.com/

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