Us Imposes Visa Ban On Nigeria, Five Other Countries
Trump restricts immigration from Nigeria and five other countries including Eritrea, Sudan, Tanzania, Kyrgyzstan and Myanmar. These countries are blocked from obtaining certain types of US visas. Citizens from those countries will still be able to visit the US as tourists.
This new ban will not affect tourism, business and student travel but it could have an impact on US citizens who want to be reunited with family members living in the affected countries.
These new measures were the result of failures by the six countries to meet US security and information-sharing standards. Most of them failed to meet the minimum requirements of US government.
When do the new rules take effect?
According to US government, the new restrictions begin to take effect on Feb 21 and will apply only to new visa applications. Immigrants who were issued valid visas before that date will still be able to move to the U.S.
US President Donald Trump first introduced a travel ban in 2017. It currently closes US borders to citizens from seven countries, most of them with Muslim majorities. In 2018 the US issued twice as many immigration visas to Nigeria than to the other five nations combined.
The previous travel ban has been called the “Muslim ban” by the US President’s critics but this new ban has been called the “African ban,” as four of the countries are African.
What are the new rules?
The US government said it would suspend the issuance of visas that can lead to permanent residency for nationals of Nigeria, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, and Myanmar.
Tanzanian and Sudan citizens will no longer be able to apply for the “diversity visas,” known as the green card lottery, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
This new rules do not effect on people doing business or people seeking medical treatment.
The government has suspended most non-immigrant and immigrant visas to applicants from those countries. Exceptions are available for students and those with “significant contacts” in the US.
