As part of new visa restrictions by the Trump administration, the US will no longer issue immigration visa to Nigeria,Eritrea,Kyrgyzstan,Myanmar,Tanzania and Sudan.
We were somewhat blindsided with the announcement on the visa restrictions by the U.S.,” Foreign Minister Geoffrey Onyeama said Tuesday after a high-level summit with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
The White House announced Friday that the U.S. is imposing new requirements on foreign countries for their citizens to be eligible for U.S. visas, including sharing passport data, information on lost or stolen passports and applicants’ criminal histories. The ban does not affect short-term visitors seeking visas for business or tourism.
The White House called the new restrictions “the height of common sense” in a statement Friday, adding that foreign countries must “satisfy basic security conditions” before their citizens could move to the United States.
Onyeama added that the Nigerian government was not fully briefed on why it was penalized with these visa restrictions until he arrived in Washington this week for a previously scheduled trip.
“Nigeria remains committed to maintaining productive relations with the United States and other international allies especially on matters of global security,” the president’s office said in a statement.
The impact was expected to be particularly pronounced for Nigeria, which has more than 300,000 immigrants in the United States.
Nigerians also accounted for one of the biggest groups of visa overstays in 2018, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
The Association for Credible leadership in Nigeria (ACLN) says “With this new travel ban in effect from February 21st 2020… U.S citizens looking to bring over children, parents or siblings will no longer be able to do so. Also, partners or spouses of American citizens will no longer be able to immigrate to the U.S.”
The US administration has defended the expanded travel ban, saying it is important for national security and that some of these countries have simply not met US security standards.
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