The United States has given Nigeria fresh conditions for a review of the visa ban on its citizens. Last month, President Donald Trump announced visa restrictions on six countries. Nigeria, Eritrea, Sudan, Tanzania, Kyrgyzstan, and Myanmar were also slapped with a similar ban.
During a meeting with Nigerian Labour and Employment Minister Chris Ngige, in Abuja, on Tuesday, Mary-Beth Leonard, the U.S. ambassador to Nigeria, said the Nigerian government must improve on its data intelligence to ease the investigation of its citizens wishing to migrate to the U.S., reported Vanguard.
The envoy also asked Nigeria to meet the expected standard of information-sharing, including on the issues of terrorism and global crimes.
“We look forward to Nigeria in a very short while being able to meet those information-sharing goals so that the decision can be reviewed,” the ambassador said.
Leonard explained that the immigration policy does not affect people currently resident in the U.S. and reiterated that students visa were not included in the ban.
“I think I need to clarify something for you here,” she said adding, “The immigrant visa ban does not affect people who are currently resident in the US. It does not cancel the status of anyone currently in the US.”
As far as the diversification policy is concerned, Leonard said that there was a need for the skill set of Nigerians to be effectively harnessed and internationalized, such that they would not be seen as illegal immigrants in other foreign countries.
In response, Nigerian minister Ngige described the immigrant visa ban by the US as punitive. The minister said the ban was unwarranted because of the contribution of Nigerian professionals to the U.S. economy.
Ngige said more than 70 percent of Nigerians living in the U.S. were highly skilled professionals who contributed billions of dollars yearly to the U.S. economy while sending an equally impressive amount to Nigeria.
