The United States (US) has added Nigeria to a list of countries facing partial travel restrictions, citing “security and documentation” concerns.
The White House announced the presidential proclamation on Tuesday, updating its list of countries facing full and partial travel restrictions.
Nigeria was among 15 mostly African countries, including Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Dominica, Gabon, and The Gambia, slammed with a partial travel suspension.
Others listed are Malawi, Mauritania, Senegal, Tanzania, Tonga, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
“Radical Islamic terrorist groups such as Boko Haram and the Islamic State operate freely in certain parts of Nigeria, which creates substantial screening and vetting difficulties,” the White House said, justifying Nigeria’s addition to the list.
“According to the Overstay Report, Nigeria had a B-1/B-2 visa overstay rate of 5.56 percent and an F, M, and J visa overstay rate of 11.90 percent.”
Turkmenistan, which was previously on the list, was removed owing to a demonstration of “significant progress in improving its identity management and information-sharing procedures”.
BURKINA FASO, MALI, NIGER FACE FULL SUSPENSION
The Sahelian states of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger are among five countries newly placed under full restrictions and entry limitations.
The White House cited operations of “terrorist organizations” in the countries as the reason for making the cut.
The other two additions were South Sudan and Syria.
Full travel restrictions on nationals from Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen remain in effect.
Laos and Sierra Leone, previously under partial restrictions, have now been placed under full restrictions.
“It is the President’s duty to take action to ensure that those seeking to enter our country will not harm the American people,” the White House said.
The proclamation added that the restrictions are necessary to prevent the entry of foreign nationals about whom the US lacks sufficient information to assess the risks they pose, enforce immigration laws, and counterterrorism objectives.
THE STRETCHED VISA ROW
In June, President Donald Trump signed an executive order imposing a full travel ban on nationals of 12 countries.
Trump also placed heightened restrictions on people from seven countries.
The US government asked the affected countries to meet certain requirements within 60 days.
At the time, Nigeria was not included on either of the lists.
However, concerns began to rise after allegations of a Christian genocide peddled by US lawmakers and secessionist groups began to gain momentum.
In October, Trump announced his decision to officially redesignate Nigeria a ‘country of particular concern’ (CPC).
He blamed radical Islamists for the “mass slaughter”.
On Monday, Riley Moore, US congressman, said Nigeria and the US were close to reaching an agreement on a “strategic security framework” aimed at tackling terrorism in the West African nation.
Moore introduced a resolution in the US house of representatives last month “condemning the ongoing persecution of Christians in Nigeria and supporting Trump’s move to redesignate Nigeria a CPC.”
The US congressman spoke of the security cooperation after visiting Nuhu Ribadu, national security adviser (NSA), during a “fact-finding mission” to Nigeria.
Amid the row, the US announced new visa restrictions earlier this month targeting Nigerians accused of undermining religious freedom.
Marco Rubio, secretary of state, said the restrictions will affect those who “knowingly direct, authorize, fund, support, or carry out violations of religious freedom”.
He said the visa policy applies to Nigeria and other governments or individuals that persecute people for their religious beliefs.
This is not the first visa standoff between both countries in 2025.
In July, the US embassy announced a reduction in the validity period and entry allowance for “most” non-immigrant and non-diplomatic visas issued to Nigerians, effectively limiting the legality of their stay in the US to three months with a single entry.
An alleged imbalance in visa reciprocity from Nigeria was cited as the reason for the hard-hitting penalty.
However, diplomatic sources told TheCable Nigeria’s refusal to accept asylum seekers from the US was partly responsible for the visa restrictions.
The US also pushed for the option of allowing its citizens to electronically apply for Nigeria’s five-year visa without visiting an embassy, alongside access to the country’s criminal database so that Nigerians with previous criminal records who are now living in America can be identified for deportation.
Yusuf Tuggar, Nigeria’s minister of foreign affairs, met Richard Mills, US ambassador to Nigeria, on Monday.
Though details of their meeting were not made public, the US embassy said the American government looked forward to working with Nigeria on issues of mutual concern.
