The federal government is removing HIV/AIDS from the list of communicable diseases that can keep a foreign visitor or immigrant from getting a visa or entering the U.S.

The change, which has been in the works for over a year, will become effective Jan. 4, according to a formal notice published Monday by the Centers for Disease Control.

The ban has been in effect since 1987 but Congress last year gave the CDC’s parent, the Department of Health and Human Services, the discretion to determine if HIV/AIDS should be removed from the list. After a rulemaking proceeding, the administration decided to do so.

President Obama referenced the matter during a White House event on Friday, noting that the U.S. is one of only a dozen countries with such a travel ban.