NBC NEWS
The State Department’s move to limit Nigerian travelers to three-month, single-entry visas last week has Nigerian Americans and immigrant communities scrambling to navigate the sudden shift in travel policy and its rippling effects.
The tighter restrictions apply only to nonimmigrant and nondiplomatic travelers, who were previously allowed multiple entries to the U.S., for five years in most cases, per visa application.
Olatunde Johnson, a 27-year-old photographer, said that his aunts and uncles in Nigeria run multiple Airbnb rentals in Chicago that will now be tougher for them to monitor and that he feels unable to help because he lives in New Jersey.
“They will have to keep reapplying and doing that again. Also, you’re losing money in the process of that. So it’s just unnecessary,” he said.
The State Department justified the decision, saying it was aimed at reaching “visa reciprocity” between the U.S. and Nigeria. However, the Nigerian government denied that there is an imbalance and said its relationship with the U.S. has been reciprocal and still is.
“Contrary to misinformation and fake news circulating online, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has never stopped issuing 5-year multiple-entry visas for US citizens, in accordance with the principle of subsisting bilateral agreements and reciprocity,” the government said in a statement.
The State Department did not respond to a request for comment.
Rep. Jonathan Jackson, a Democrat from Illinois who represents part of Chicago and who serves on the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, touted the city’s “strong and dynamic Nigerian diaspora.”
“Many have deep roots here and equally deep ties to Nigeria — family, businesses and investments,” Jackson said. “When we make it harder for them to travel back and forth, to manage their affairs, or even just to visit loved ones, we are not just impacting individuals, we are weakening the very bonds that enrich both our nations.”
Johnson said he thinks the visa decision by the Trump administration is “spreading out a whole lot of stress and unnecessary pain.” He said getting a visa to the U.S. had already been difficult for Africans, and the administration is making entry requirements even more strict.
Bobby Digi Olisa, 51, who lives in New York, said the new restrictions will affect how often he sees his siblings, who aren’t U.S. citizens and live in Nigeria. He is particularly concerned about his siblings’ ability to afford multiple visa applications each year to visit the U.S.
“It will cause hardship with all of the ballooning costs,” he said.