ABUJA (CONVERSEER) – The administration of United States President Donald Trump has initiated steps to impose a sweeping visa ban on Nigerians and citizens of 35 other countries, citing national security concerns and deficiencies in identity verification systems.
An internal memorandum obtained by The Washington Post and signed by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio outlines a proposal to either restrict visa issuance or prohibit entry entirely for nationals of countries that fail to meet newly introduced security benchmarks set by the U.S. State Department.
According to the memo, the identified countries have 60 days to comply with the requirements or face extensive travel restrictions. The list features a significant number of African nations, including Nigeria, Angola, Ghana, Cameroon, Ethiopia, and Egypt.
The Trump administration argues that the affected countries either lack credible and secure systems for issuing national identity documents or are grappling with widespread document fraud. In some cases, U.S. officials cited the absence of a central authority capable of providing verifiable civil records.
Also named in the proposed visa restriction are several small island nations and Asian countries, such as Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Lucia, Bhutan, Cambodia, Kyrgyzstan, Syria, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.
The memo reportedly requires all affected governments to submit an initial compliance action plan to the U.S. State Department by Wednesday, outlining steps they will take to meet the new criteria.
This development follows a previous proposal made in March, in which the Trump administration considered placing 43 countries under varying levels of visa scrutiny. At that time, Nigeria was not listed.
Those nations were categorised into red, orange, and yellow groups—with the red category facing a full ban, the orange category subject to strict visa limits, and the yellow group allowed a grace period to address specific deficiencies.
The new proposal signals a hardening of the Trump administration’s immigration stance, particularly targeting countries deemed non-compliant with U.S. security standards.
It remains unclear how Nigeria and other affected countries will respond to the directive or whether diplomatic negotiations could alter the impending restrictions.