The embassy of the United States in Nigeria has confirmed that it will only partially suspend visa issuance from January 1, 2026, in accordance with the directive of President Donald Trump.
The embassy confirmed this in a post on its official X page on Monday night.
Nigeria is one of 19 countries affected by Trump’s new directive on immigration.
It wrote: “Effective January 1, 2026, at 12:01 a.m. EST, in line with Presidential Proclamation 10998 on ‘Restricting and Limiting the Entry of Foreign Nationals to Protect the Security of the United States,’ the Department of State is partially suspending visa issuance to nationals of 19 countries – Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Burundi, Cote D’Ivoire, Cuba, Dominica, Gabon, The Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Togo, Tonga, Venezuela, Zambia, and Zimbabwe – for nonimmigrant B-1/B-2 visitor visas and F, M, J student and exchange visitor visas, and all immigrant visas with limited exceptions for:
• Immigrant visas for ethnic and religious minorities facing persecution in Iran
• Dual nationals applying with a passport of a nationality not subject to a suspension
• Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) for U.S. government employees under 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(27)(D)
• Participants in certain major sporting events
• Lawful Permanent Residents (LPRs).”
The visa ban by the US government is over the perceived Christian genocide in the country, for which the Trump administration believes the Nigerian government is not doing enough to protect the lives and property of adherent of the Christian faith.
