• The President of the United States has restricted the visa types Nigerians can acquire
• 5 other countries were also included on the list

The US Department of Homeland Security has announced a new travel restriction that includes Nigeria and 5 other countries.

With regards to this new policy, citizens from Nigeria, Myanmar, Eritrea, and Kyrgyzstan will be barred from obtaining visas that can lead to permanent residency.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the policy will also see that two other countries, Tanzania and Sudan will be restricted from participating in the diversity visa lottery

The diversity visa lottery awards green cards to 50,000 green cards to immigrants from underrepresented countries

These countries listed will join a list of seven nations that faced significant travel banns under President Trump’s original travel, issued earlier in 2017

The US government has said the policy was created to heighten security for those countries that do not comply with the U.S security standards or coact to stop unlawful immigration

US Acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security shared the latest development via his official Twitter handle.

He said, “Today @POTUS signed a proclamation issuing tailored travel restrictions on 6 countries that currently fail to meet the minimum US security standards set by this Administration. Through this action, we are raising the baseline of security around the world.”

Why was Nigeria restricted?

According to the statement issued by the US Department of Homeland Security, “Nigeria does not comply with the established identity-management and information-sharing criteria assessed by the performance metrics.

It continued saying, “Suspension of entry for Immigrants, except as Special Immigrants whose eligibility is based on having provided assistance to the U.S. Government.

In other words, Nigerians will not be able to acquire any visa type that can amount to permanent residency.

When will the ban take effect?

According to US officials, the new restrictions will take effect from 21 February 2020. However, it will only apply to new visa applications.

Immigrants who were issued valid visas before that date will still be able to move to the U.S.