The U.S. Mission Nigeria has claimed that new visa restrictions against Nigerians are not linked with President Bola Tinubu’s participation at the 2025 BRICS summit last week nor Nigeria’s refusal to accept deported Venezuelan convicts and illegals.
The foreign mission in a statement on Friday stated that the single entry three-month visa policy was activated as a security measure to “safeguard U.S. immigration systems,” adding that the policy might be reconsidered if Nigeria can fortify its weak immigration systems to meet global standards.
The statement comes a day after Minister of Foreign Affairs Yusuf Tuggar said Nigeria declined an offer from Washington to accommodate Venezuelan prisoners and illegals. President Donald Trump first floated the idea of offloading illegal immigrants to third-party nations and had begun approaching nations such as Libya and Sudan with deportation offers.
Mr Tuggar suggested that U.S. additional 10 per cent tariffs on nations in alliance with BRICS might not have been the only factor considered in reducing the validity of U.S. non-immigrant visas for Nigerians.
The minister said Nigeria has enough problems of its own and is unable to accommodate criminals and illegals from other nations.
The minister’s statement ignited debates on social media where netizens claimed Washington cannot accept Nigeria’s rejection of Venezuelan prisoners and retaliated by restricting their access to the U.S.
But the American Mission in Nigeria denied the allegation.
“This reduction is not the result of any nation’s stance on third-country deportees, introduction of e-visa policies, or affiliations with groups like BRICS,” stated the U.S. Mission in Nigeria. “The reduction in validity is part of an ongoing global review of the use of U.S. visas by other countries using technical and security benchmarks to safeguard U.S. immigration systems.”