A recent decision by the United States government to tighten visa access for Nigerian travelers is sparking concern among Nigerian Americans and immigrant communities.
Under the new policy, Nigerian applicants for nonimmigrant and nondiplomatic visas will now only be eligible for single entry visas valid for three months.
Olatunde Johnson, a 27 year old photographer living in New Jersey, said the change will make it much harder for his relatives in Nigeria to oversee their Airbnb business in Chicago.
“They’ll now have to keep reapplying and spending more money each time. It’s just unnecessary stress,” he said.
The US State Department defended the change by pointing to a need for “visa reciprocity” with Nigeria.
However, the Nigerian government rejected that claim, insisting that it still grants five year multiple entry visas to US citizens and maintains a balanced diplomatic relationship.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has not withdrawn long term visa privileges for American citizens,” the Nigerian government said in a statement, labeling online reports to the contrary as misinformation.
The State Department has so far declined to comment on the matter.
US Representative Jonathan Jackson, who serves part of Chicago and sits on the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, expressed disappointment over the decision.
He highlighted the deep economic and cultural ties between Nigerian Americans and their home country.
“Many have strong family bonds and business interests in Nigeria,” Jackson said. “Making it harder for them to travel back and forth weakens the connections that benefit both nations.”
Although Nigerians have not been banned from entering the US, the restrictions align with a broader immigration clampdown initiated during the Trump administration.
Johnson criticized the visa policy as yet another hurdle for Africans.
“Getting a visa was already hard enough. Now it’s even worse,” he said.
Recent figures back up his claim. A report from Shorelight and the President’s Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration found that African countries faced the highest rejection rates for F1 student visas from 2015 to 2022. In 2024 alone, 46.5 percent of Nigerian applicants for short term business visas were denied, according to State Department records.
Bobby Digi Olisa, 51, a New Yorker with siblings in Nigeria, said the new rule would reduce how often he could see his family.
“The extra costs of repeated applications will create a financial burden,” he said.
Ovigwe Eguegu, a policy analyst with the global consultancy Development Reimagined, believed that while the change may not be reversed immediately, it could influence Nigeria’s diplomatic posture.
He said the new restrictions will be particularly hard on families and business travelers who typically make multiple trips each year.
“The wait time for visa processing is already long and the costs are high. That’s why people preferred longer term visas with multiple entries,” he said.
Congressman Jackson warned that the shift could erode people to people diplomacy.
“Strong relationships between countries are built on human connection and mutual understanding,” he said. “Security issues must be addressed, but not at the cost of cutting off cultural and economic ties.”
As frustrations mount, Johnson said it is everyday people who bear the brunt of such policies.
“Wherever you are in the world, it’s always the citizens who lose when governments clash,” he said.
Despite the difficulties, Olisa remained hopeful. “This is tough, but we’ll get through it. Better days will come,” he said.
