A total of 29,723 Nigerian immigrants who travelled to the United States of America in 2018 overstayed their visas according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Unified States President, Donald Trump, has decided to add Nigeria and six others to a new list of countries on America’s visa restriction, Wall Street Journal reports.
According to the report, Nigerians would not be barred from entering the country but would not be issued with certain types of visas.
The Trump administration plans to roll out its expanded travel restrictions on Monday, marking the three-year anniversary of the initial travel ban Trump signed on his seventh day in office, sparking controversy at the beginning of his term.
Unlike the initial travel ban list of 2017, most of the new countries don’t have majority-Muslim populations. Several of them, however, have had relatively higher rates of their citizens overstaying visas in the US, according to DHS data.
The report reads in part, it could have restrictions placed on specific types of visas, such as business or visitor visas, administration officials said.”
Nigeria could be on the list because it has a high rate of persons overstaying their visas.
Nigeria could be on the list because it has a high rate of persons overstaying their visas.
In the 2018 fiscal year, 24 per cent of Eritreans on business or visitor visas overstayed their permits, along with 15 per cent of Nigerians and 12 per cent of people from Sudan. Those compared with a total overstay rate in the category of 1.9 per cent.
A total of 19,676 Nigerians overstayed their visas
in the U.S. in 2017, representing 10.61%. Just the previous year in
2016, only a total of 12,043 Nigerians (6.34%) that travelled to the
U.S. overstayed their visas.
Nigeria's high overstay rate might not be
unconnected to the announcement this week by the U.S. embassy in Nigeria
that the visa interview waiver for those renewing visas in the country
has been indefinitely suspended.
Before the suspension, Nigerian holders of US
visa types B1/B2, F, H, and L could renew their visas online by
processing it through DHL using one of several dropbox locations across
the country without attending physical interviews.
According to WSJ, some countries could be banned from participating in the diversity visa lottery program, which awards green cards to people in countries with low levels of immigration to the US.thanks.
President Trump has called for an end to that program, saying it lets undesirable people into the US, and he has proposed reorienting the existing visa system toward skilled workers instead.
The journal said the White House was still debating whether to include one or two of the countries.
The Department of Homeland Security didn’t respond to request for comment. The State Department declined to comment.The administration has said its policy restricting travel is necessary to prevent potential acts of terrorism.
- Hallmarknews.com
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