Shia Muslim scholars denied entry into US suspect religious bias

A 2015 law restricts entry to people who have visited countries where Shias take pilgrimages, such as the one pictured in Karbala, Iraq, in September 2022. Photograph: Majid Saeedi/Getty Images

It took the US consulate seven minutes to reject Nabil Ahmed Shabbir’s visa application.

Shabbir, a British Shia scholar, had applied for his US visa to assist with the birth of his first child. His wife, an American Shia Muslim, wanted to have the birth in the US.