Nigeria to comply with new US visa rules

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has said his country will work to fix security lapses, in order to comply with US concerns that have led to restrictions on immigration for Nigerian nationals.

President Buhari said he wants Nigeria to have “productive relations” with the United States. 

The news comes after President Trump announced last month that he would be extending his controversial travel ban to restrict permanent residency visas for nationals of Nigeria, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan and Myanmar. 

Under the new rules Nigerians will still be able to visit the United States for travel or business. However, they would no longer be able to settle in the country permanently. The new rules will also prevent Sudanese and Tanzanian nationals from applying for “diversity visas”, which are available by lottery for applicants from countries with low rates of immigration to the US. 

The new rules will come into effect on 21st February. 

Mr Buhari said he has appointed a minister to lead a committee to “study and address” the new visa requirements. 

On Friday, acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf told reporters 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”. 

The United States issued more than 8,000 immigration visas to Nigeria in 2018, as well as over 2,000 to Sudanese nationals and 290 to Tanzanians. 

President Trump’s travel ban first came into effect in 2017, initially excluding people from seven majority-muslim countries from entering the United States. The ban was later extended to include Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, Venezuela and North Korea. 

Photo: AFP