President of the United States of America, Donald Trump, has imposed an immigration visa ban on Nigeria.
Other countries affected by the visa restriction, according to BBC are Eritrea, Myanmar, Eritrea, Sudan, Tanzania and Kyrgyzstan.
The travel restriction will take effect from February 21, 2020.
The citizens of these countries will be blocked from obtaining certain types of visas but will still be able to visit the US as tourists.
It would be recalled that in 2018, the US issued twice as many immigration visas to Nigeria than to the other five nations combined.
An official expressed that the new measures were the result of failures by the six countries to meet US security and information-sharing standards.
Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf told reporters on Friday that;
These countries, for the most part, want to be helpful but for a variety of different reasons simply failed to meet those minimum requirements that we laid out.
He also added that;
The new immigration restrictions were designed to address security concerns in the way the banned countries track their own citizens, share information with the U.S. and cooperate on immigration matters.
The US said it would suspend the issuance of visas that can lead to permanent residency for nationals of Nigeria, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, and Myanmar.
Wolf revealed that non-immigrant visas given to people for temporary stays – including visitors, those doing business or people seeking medical treatment – would not be impacted by the new rules.
Sudanese and Tanzanian nationals will no longer be allowed to apply for “diversity visas.
These visas are available by lottery for applicants from countries with low rates of immigration to the US.
Of the new nationalities facing visa restrictions, Nigerians account for the most immigration to the US.
According to US government statistics, the State Department issued 8,018 immigrant visas to Nigerians in the fiscal year 2018.
Wolf further explained that the restriction policy by the Trump administration was designed to;
Tighten security for countries that don’t comply with the US minimum security standards or cooperate to prevent illegal immigration.
According to BBC, the new restriction would apply only to new visa applications as immigrants who were issued valid visas before that date will still be able to move to the US.
It also stated that two other countries, Sudan and Tanzania, would be barred from participating in the diversity visa lottery.
This visa lottery randomly awards green cards to 50,000 immigrants from underrepresented countries annually.
Many of the recipients are from African countries.
