The United States government says it has contacted rejected immigrants and is prioritising processing their pending visa applications affected by the travel restrictions imposed by former President Donald Trump.

Mr. Trump had imposed travel restrictions on 13 countries, including Nigeria under the Presidential Proclamations 9645 and 9983, later suspended by incumbent President Joe Biden, who signed a presidential proclamation, ‘Ending Discriminatory Bans on Entry to the United States,’ in January, to reverse the restrictions.

A statement made available to Peoples Gazette by the U.S. Consulate General in Lagos said, “This ended the travel restrictions under Presidential Proclamations 9645 and 9983 that had suspended entry into the United States of certain nationals, based on visa type, from various countries to include Nigeria. 

“In Nigeria, this proclamation banned entry for certain immigrant visa categories. The U.S. Consulate General in Lagos has already contacted all immigrant visa applicants whose applications were affected and is prioritising the processing of these pending cases.”

It, however, added, “Recent media reports claiming ‘Nigerians denied visas on or after January 20, 2020, can re-apply for free’ are inaccurate.”

According to the US Embassy, the proclamation announcement applies only to certain immigrant visa cases and does not apply to tourist, business, student, or other non-immigrant visas. 

“Our consular sections in Abuja and Lagos are gradually restoring routine visa operations in accordance with COVID-19 safety mitigation protocols. The validity of non-immigrant visa payments (known as the MRV fee) has been extended until September 30, 2022, to allow all applicants who were unable to schedule a visa appointment as a result of the suspension of routine consular operations an opportunity to schedule and/or attend a visa appointment with the already paid fee.

“Nonimmigrant visa applicants who were previously refused and would like to apply again will need to submit a new visa application (DS-160) and pay a new visa application processing fee,” it added.

Nigeria was added to a list of countries whose citizens will be restricted from entering the U.S. In 2020, a White House statement said Nigeria was not complying with “the established identity-management and information sharing criteria assessed by performance metrics. Nigeria does not adequately share public-safety and terrorism-related information, which is necessary for the protection of the national security and public safety of the United States.” 

It, therefore, declared that “the entry into the United States of nationals of Nigeria,” with some exceptions, “is hereby suspended.”

The measures affected only immigrants (those who wish to live permanently in the U.S.) not short-term visitors for business or tourism.