US TRAVEL: There is NO Ban on Nigerians
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| President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria in a handshake with President Donald Trump of the United States | Source: Bellanaija |
News has been circulating, saying that Nigerians have now been banned from traveling to the United States of America. All such information are false and misleading, and this article will tell you why.
Some days after he came into office in January 2017, President Donald John Trump signed executive order 13780 which placed travel restrictions on 7 majority Muslim countries, namely Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Somalia Iraq and Sudan. The ban halted admission of refugees from the affected countries for a period of 120 days at the time (expired in October 27, 2017), and effectively halted the issuance of immigration visas to citizens of those countries (unless in special cases where a visa waiver would be issued to the prospects). It also specified new entry restrictions for citizens of those countries after a 90-day period going forward.
At the time, Democrats challenged the executive order in court on the grounds that it discriminated against people of a certain religion. They were able to get a temporary suspension of it. But the Trump administration made some adjustments to the executive order and challenged the court ruling all the way to the Supreme Court. The Court's majority argued that the executive order was not discriminatory to Muslims countries since Venezuela and North Korea are included (they were not originally included in the Trump ban, but were later added to the list in a later revision of the order by the Trump administration). Moreover, they said, there was also a process of granting exemptions.
Essentially, Trump's executive order does not ban travel to the US from these countries. What it bans is immigration and refugee programs. And even at that, it is not a total ban; there are conditions upon which a waiver can be given to persons from these countries, especially those from a minority religion who are facing imminent persecution to immigrate to the US.
Travel restrictions are not a ban on travel. They simply mean the introduction of tighter scrutiny and vetting when a citizen of any of those countries either applies for a temporary travel visa or when they are at the US ports of entry.
Hence, the addition of Nigeria to this list covered by executive order 13780 DOES NOT mean that Nigerians can no longer apply for temporary US visas or travel to the US on a temporary visa. It simply means that Nigerians can no longer apply for a US immigration visa or refugee status from Nigeria, except in very special cases where the person's life is demonstrably at risk if they continue to live in Nigeria, due to religious or political persecution.
A Facebook user, Mike Ikem Umealor puts it susinctly:
The visa restriction only affects immigrant visas.
Immigrant visas are for Nigerians who intend to move and live PERMANENTLY in the United States. Apart from those applying for family reunion visas, there are zero to none of applicants indicating that they intend to move permanently to live in the US in their application documents if their application is not based on one of the three types of applications required by law for the granting of immigrant visas, namely:
1) As a spouse or immediate family member of a U.S. citizen.
2) Sponsorship through your employer if you possess an exceptional and uncommon skill or ability.
3) Application due to extraordinary circumstances such as asylum.
The restrictions would most likely be applied on number 2 and 3.
Umealor also sees this as a deliberate effort by the Trump administration to reduce the number of persons it offers immigrant visas from a country like Nigeria based upon conditions 2 and 3 above. In his view, this would give US citizens the priority chance to fill those critical, high-paying job roles, something that would seem to agree with Trump's mantra "Make America Great Again".
While I see his point on this, I do not fully agree, and here's why: It is true that the State Department actually says that in 2018 alone, about 8,000 Nigerians were granted immigrant visas based on conditions 2 and 3 above. But I think Nigeria is apparently not the only country from where such talents can be sourced. As Nigerians are now banned from immigrating, this simply increases the chances of many other professionals from other nationalities to immigrate and fill those job roles. I say this because it is a well know fact to which even the US government has admitted, that currently, there are now more jobs in the US than there are qualified Americans to fill.
However, continuing, Umealor also adds:
Note that the rule on initial investment of over $500,000 through the EB-5 programme to obtain a permanent US residence status remains unaffected.
That is to say, The EB-5 investor visa will continue to be offered when a person invests between US$500,000 and US$1-million in any legitimate new commercial enterprise that can at least employ up to 10 people in full-time capacity in any US state.
He further emphasizes that there is no ban for the issuance of non-immigrant visas for Nigerians who wish to enter the US for temporary purposes such as tourism, medical treatment, business, temporary work, study, or other similar reasons. It is believed that the US Embassy makes a lot of money from the non-refundable visa fees it charges for non-immigrant visa applications in Nigeria, and so will not be willing to put a stop to this visa type.
According to The New York Times, State Department officials noted, “elevated risk and threat environment in the country,” when justifying the addition of Nigeria to the travel ban list. Apart from Nigeria, Eritrea, Sudan, Tanzania, Kyrgyzstan and Myanmar were also added.
Effects of the Travel Restrictions
Firstly, cases where a Nigerian who is legally in the US wants his/her immediate family member (wife, husband or children) in Nigeria to be reunited with them in the US will now be difficult, especially if the Nigerian in the US is not a tax-paying skilled professional. It may now take several months, if not years for this to be successful. However, there is a revived effort by some U.S. citizens and permanent residents whose relatives have been unable to enter the U.S. because of the travel restrictions to renew a legal challenged before the 4th US Court of Appeals which heard their arguments in three lawsuits last Tuesday, according to the Associated Press. The outcome of this effort remains to be seen.
Secondly, before now, Nigeria was no longer a participant in the diversity visa lottery program of the State Department. However, some other countries that were recently added to the list were. But by this executive order will now also be exempted from the diversity visa program.
Thirdly, more than likely, there will be increased vetting of travelers of Nigerian decent when they arrive at various US ports of entry. We may now be subjected to more thorough searches and questioning before admission into the United States. It is needless to say that so much could go wrong here.
Nigeria's information minister, Lai Mohammed says the Federal Government has not been officially communicated to about the country's inclusion in the travel restriction list. However, the proclamation issued by the White House yesterday as an addendum to executive order 13780 is all but ambiguous about Nigeria's inclusion.
There is no ban on issuance of non-immigrant visas to Nigerians, nor travel to the US on such visa types. But there is a ban on the issuance of immigrant visas to Nigerians (unless a waiver is granted to a person who applies for same), and this ban will take effect from February 22, 2020 barring any last minute changes. However, those issued with an immigrant visa before this date will be able to travel to the US.
Chukwubuikem Paul Anunaso is a civil/structural engineer. He is also the editor of The Paul Anunaso Blog, and can be reached at anunaso.cp@gmail.com.
At the time, Democrats challenged the executive order in court on the grounds that it discriminated against people of a certain religion. They were able to get a temporary suspension of it. But the Trump administration made some adjustments to the executive order and challenged the court ruling all the way to the Supreme Court. The Court's majority argued that the executive order was not discriminatory to Muslims countries since Venezuela and North Korea are included (they were not originally included in the Trump ban, but were later added to the list in a later revision of the order by the Trump administration). Moreover, they said, there was also a process of granting exemptions.
Essentially, Trump's executive order does not ban travel to the US from these countries. What it bans is immigration and refugee programs. And even at that, it is not a total ban; there are conditions upon which a waiver can be given to persons from these countries, especially those from a minority religion who are facing imminent persecution to immigrate to the US.
Travel restrictions are not a ban on travel. They simply mean the introduction of tighter scrutiny and vetting when a citizen of any of those countries either applies for a temporary travel visa or when they are at the US ports of entry.
Hence, the addition of Nigeria to this list covered by executive order 13780 DOES NOT mean that Nigerians can no longer apply for temporary US visas or travel to the US on a temporary visa. It simply means that Nigerians can no longer apply for a US immigration visa or refugee status from Nigeria, except in very special cases where the person's life is demonstrably at risk if they continue to live in Nigeria, due to religious or political persecution.
 |
| Mike Ikem Umealor |
A Facebook user, Mike Ikem Umealor puts it susinctly:
The visa restriction only affects immigrant visas.
Immigrant visas are for Nigerians who intend to move and live PERMANENTLY in the United States. Apart from those applying for family reunion visas, there are zero to none of applicants indicating that they intend to move permanently to live in the US in their application documents if their application is not based on one of the three types of applications required by law for the granting of immigrant visas, namely:
1) As a spouse or immediate family member of a U.S. citizen.
2) Sponsorship through your employer if you possess an exceptional and uncommon skill or ability.
3) Application due to extraordinary circumstances such as asylum.
The restrictions would most likely be applied on number 2 and 3.
Umealor also sees this as a deliberate effort by the Trump administration to reduce the number of persons it offers immigrant visas from a country like Nigeria based upon conditions 2 and 3 above. In his view, this would give US citizens the priority chance to fill those critical, high-paying job roles, something that would seem to agree with Trump's mantra "Make America Great Again".
While I see his point on this, I do not fully agree, and here's why: It is true that the State Department actually says that in 2018 alone, about 8,000 Nigerians were granted immigrant visas based on conditions 2 and 3 above. But I think Nigeria is apparently not the only country from where such talents can be sourced. As Nigerians are now banned from immigrating, this simply increases the chances of many other professionals from other nationalities to immigrate and fill those job roles. I say this because it is a well know fact to which even the US government has admitted, that currently, there are now more jobs in the US than there are qualified Americans to fill.
However, continuing, Umealor also adds:
Note that the rule on initial investment of over $500,000 through the EB-5 programme to obtain a permanent US residence status remains unaffected.
That is to say, The EB-5 investor visa will continue to be offered when a person invests between US$500,000 and US$1-million in any legitimate new commercial enterprise that can at least employ up to 10 people in full-time capacity in any US state.
He further emphasizes that there is no ban for the issuance of non-immigrant visas for Nigerians who wish to enter the US for temporary purposes such as tourism, medical treatment, business, temporary work, study, or other similar reasons. It is believed that the US Embassy makes a lot of money from the non-refundable visa fees it charges for non-immigrant visa applications in Nigeria, and so will not be willing to put a stop to this visa type.
According to The New York Times, State Department officials noted, “elevated risk and threat environment in the country,” when justifying the addition of Nigeria to the travel ban list. Apart from Nigeria, Eritrea, Sudan, Tanzania, Kyrgyzstan and Myanmar were also added.
Effects of the Travel Restrictions
Firstly, cases where a Nigerian who is legally in the US wants his/her immediate family member (wife, husband or children) in Nigeria to be reunited with them in the US will now be difficult, especially if the Nigerian in the US is not a tax-paying skilled professional. It may now take several months, if not years for this to be successful. However, there is a revived effort by some U.S. citizens and permanent residents whose relatives have been unable to enter the U.S. because of the travel restrictions to renew a legal challenged before the 4th US Court of Appeals which heard their arguments in three lawsuits last Tuesday, according to the Associated Press. The outcome of this effort remains to be seen.
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| The Nigerian Pasport |
Secondly, before now, Nigeria was no longer a participant in the diversity visa lottery program of the State Department. However, some other countries that were recently added to the list were. But by this executive order will now also be exempted from the diversity visa program.
Thirdly, more than likely, there will be increased vetting of travelers of Nigerian decent when they arrive at various US ports of entry. We may now be subjected to more thorough searches and questioning before admission into the United States. It is needless to say that so much could go wrong here.
Nigeria's information minister, Lai Mohammed says the Federal Government has not been officially communicated to about the country's inclusion in the travel restriction list. However, the proclamation issued by the White House yesterday as an addendum to executive order 13780 is all but ambiguous about Nigeria's inclusion.
There is no ban on issuance of non-immigrant visas to Nigerians, nor travel to the US on such visa types. But there is a ban on the issuance of immigrant visas to Nigerians (unless a waiver is granted to a person who applies for same), and this ban will take effect from February 22, 2020 barring any last minute changes. However, those issued with an immigrant visa before this date will be able to travel to the US.
Chukwubuikem Paul Anunaso is a civil/structural engineer. He is also the editor of The Paul Anunaso Blog, and can be reached at anunaso.cp@gmail.com.
Nice post
ReplyDeleteThanks, Christopher
Deletegood
ReplyDelete