The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is expected to issue a proposal this week to remove HIV from the list of "communicable diseases of public health significance" that preclude entry by foreign nationals. The policy has been in effect since 1987.

About a dozen countries, including Saudi Arabia and Sudan, ban entry by people with HIV, said Allison Herwitt of the gay rights group Human Rights Campaign. China reversed its ban before the 2008 Olympics. Although President George W. Bush last year signed into law a measure that removed the statutory ban on nonresident visitors and potential immigrants with HIV, HIV remains on the HHS list.

Short-term visitors are asked whether they have a communicable disease of public health significance. People with HIV must apply for a waiver to the ban, a process that advocates say is onerous and stigmatizing. People who wish to become residents are subject to a medical exam, with residency excluded for those with HIV.

A 45-day public comment period will begin once the proposed rule is published in the Federal Register, after which the rule can be reviewed again and implemented.

"These regulations are a long time coming," said Rachel B. Tiven, executive director of Immigration Equality in Washington, D.C. "There hasn't been a major HIV scientific conference in the US in decades because of this ban."

"A person who doesn't engage in risky behavior is not going to be at risk," said Aaron Glatt, a spokesperson for the Infectious Disease Society of America. He acknowledged the potential health care requirements of HIV-positive visitors and immigrants, however: "One needs to make sure that the communities that are going to be serving these patients aren't adversely affected from an economic point of view."