US adds Nigeria to list of countries facing partial travel restrictions

The United States has added Nigeria to a list of countriesfacing partial travel restrictions, citing “security and documentation”concerns. The White House announced the presidential proclamation onTuesday, updating its list of countries facing full and partial travelrestrictions. Nigeria was among 15 mostly African countries, includingAngola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Dominica, Gabon, and TheGambia, 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 theIslamic State operate freely in certain parts of Nigeria, which createssubstantial 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-2visa overstay rate of 5.56 percent and an F, M, and J visa overstay rate of11.90 percent.” Turkmenistan, which was previously on the list, was removedowing to a demonstration of “significant progress in improving its identitymanagement and information-sharing procedures”. BURKINA FASO, MALI, NIGER FACE FULL SUSPENSION The Sahelian states of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger areamong five countries newly placed under full restrictions and entrylimitations. The White House cited operations of “terroristorganizations” 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 partialrestrictions, have now been placed under full restrictions. “It is the President’s duty to take action to ensure thatthose seeking to enter our country will not harm the American people,” theWhite House said. The proclamation added that the restrictions are necessaryto prevent the entry of foreign nationals about whom the US lacks sufficientinformation to assess the risks they pose, enforce immigration laws, andcounterterrorism objectives. THE STRETCHED VISA ROW In June, President Donald Trump signed an executive orderimposing a full travel ban on nationals of 12 countries. Trump also placed heightened restrictions on people fromseven countries. The US government asked the affected countries to meetcertain requirements within 60 days. At the time, Nigeria was not included on either of thelists. However, concerns began to rise after allegations of aChristian genocide peddled by US lawmakers and secessionist groups began togain momentum. In October, Trump announced his decision to officiallyredesignate Nigeria a ‘country of particular concern’ (CPC). He blamed radical Islamists for the “mass slaughter”. On Monday, Riley Moore, US congressman, said Nigeria and theUS 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 ofrepresentatives last month “condemning the ongoing persecution of Christians inNigeria and supporting Trump’s move to redesignate Nigeria a CPC.” The US congressman spoke of the security cooperation aftervisiting Nuhu Ribadu, national security adviser (NSA), during a “fact-findingmission” to Nigeria. Amid the row, the US announced new visa restrictions earlierthis month targeting Nigerians accused of undermining religious freedom. Marco Rubio, secretary of state, said the restrictions willaffect those who “knowingly direct, authorize, fund, support, or carry outviolations of religious freedom”. He said the visa policy applies to Nigeria and othergovernments or individuals that persecute people for their religious beliefs. This is not the first visa standoff between both countriesin 2025. In July, the US embassy announced a reduction in thevalidity period and entry allowance for “most” non-immigrant and non-diplomaticvisas issued to Nigerians, effectively limiting the legality of their stay inthe US to three months with a single entry. An alleged imbalance in visa reciprocity from Nigeria wascited as the reason for the hard-hitting penalty. However, diplomatic sources told TheCable Nigeria’s refusalto accept asylum seekers from the US was partly responsible for the visarestrictions. TheCable learnt that the US also pushed for the option ofallowing its citizens to electronically apply for Nigeria’s five-year visawithout visiting an embassy, alongside access to the country’s criminaldatabase so that Nigerians with previous criminal records who are now living inAmerica can be identified for deportation. Yusuf Tuggar, Nigeria’s minister of foreign affairs, metRichard Mills, US ambassador to Nigeria, on Monday. Though details of their meeting were not made public, the USembassy said the American government looked forward to working with Nigeria onissues of mutual concern.

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