# United States passport to North Korea: Entry restricted

Current access classification: **Entry restricted** — Ordinary visitor entry is prohibited or currently suspended.

Access data checked August 24, 2026. Evidence status: **official evidence collected**.

This page concerns ordinary short visits unless an official source states otherwise. Authorities apply the current rule, and individual circumstances can change the applicable treatment.

## Evidence timeline

- **Current official route — Ordinary U.S. passports: North Korea travel restriction** (Entry restricted)
  U.S. Passport Services states that ordinary U.S. passports are invalid for travel to, in or through North Korea. A separately issued special-validation passport is limited to national-interest cases and is not an ordinary short-tourist route.
  - Applies to an ordinary U.S. passport for travel to, in or through North Korea.
  - Passport Services may issue a special-validation passport only on a limited national-interest basis, including qualifying journalism, Red Cross work or compelling humanitarian cases.
  - A special validation is a separate passport exception and does not itself decide DPRK admission or replace any DPRK entry permission.
  Official source:
  - [U.S. Department of State, Passport Services: Passport for Travel to North Korea](https://travel.state.gov/en/passports/apply/unique-needs/special-validation.html)

## Useful links

- [HTML evidence page](https://multipassrank.com/united-states-north-korea-entry-restricted)
- [United States passport access](https://multipassrank.com/passport/united-states)
- [All passport requirements for North Korea](https://multipassrank.com/destination/north-korea)
- [Dataset license](https://multipassrank.com/data-license)