The Federal Government of Nigeria has set up a committee to study and address the updated U.S. requirements on ‘immigrant visas’, for which issuance of the country’s visas to Nigerians had been suspended.
This followed the United States (U.S) Department of Homeland Security (DHS)’s announcement that it temporarily handed travel restrictions on six (6) countries, including Nigeria.
A statement by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to President Muhammadu Buhari, Femi Adesina on Saturday, said “For Nigeria, the restriction is the suspension of the issuance of “immigrant visas” to Nigerian passport holders only.
“This suspension shall come into effect on 21st February 2020. The suspension
does not apply to other U.S visas such as those for official, business, tourism and student travel.
“The DHS states the suspension of “immigrant visas” became necessary following a review and update of the methodology (performance metrics) adopted by the U.S Government to assess
compliance of certain security criteria by foreign governments.
“This resulted in certain enhancements on how information is shared between Nigeria and the U.S.
“Nigeria remains committed to maintaining productive relations with the United States and its international allies especially on matters of global security.
“Accordingly, Mr President has established a committee, to be chaired by the Hon. Minister of Interior, to study and address the updated U.S. requirements.
“The committee will work with the U.S Government, INTERPOL and other
stakeholders to ensure all updates are properly implemented,” the statement read.
