US threatens Nigerians with permanent travel ban, deportation over visa overstay

US threatens Nigerians with permanent travel ban, deportation over visa overstay

The US has warned Nigerians about overstaying the authorised period granted in their visa, saying that such a violation will result in deportation and a probable permanent travel ban.

This was announced on Monday by the US Mission in Nigeria in a post on its X handle.

This comes after a series of travel restrictions and visa curbs affecting Nigerians, announced by the US recently as part of its ongoing immigration crackdown under President Donald Trump’s administration.

“If you remain in the United States beyond your authorised period of stay, you could be deported and could face a permanent ban on travelling to the United States in the future,” the US said in the post.

Early last week, the US announced a change to its visa reciprocity policy for Nigerians, limiting non-immigrant and non-diplomatic visas to three three-month single entries, citing reciprocity policy, visa overstay, national security, and incorrect documents as among the reasons.

It also established a new $250 required integrity cost for student, worker, and tourist visas.

In addition to the Visa Integrity Fee, the bill includes additional non-waivable travel-related surcharges.

READ ALSO:

• Obi will contest presidency even without coalition – Yunusa Tanko
• Buhari saved Nigeria from P&ID, Mambila trouble, says AGF Fagbemi
• Six killed after truck crashes into trailer in Delta

There is a $24 I-94 cost and a $13 Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (ESTA) fee for Visa Waiver Program travellers.

According to the rule, the premium would apply to visa categories such as B-1/B-2 (tourist/business), F and M (students), H-1B (workers), and J (exchange visits).

Under the proposed rule, only diplomatic candidates in categories A and G would be exempt. The law provides explicitly that in fourteen cases.

The two visa restrictions were announced last week, after the United States required social media screening as part of the vetting process for candidates wishing to study in the country.

It required candidates to list all of their social network usernames and remove privacy settings in order to be properly screened.

The US Embassy in Nigeria stated in its announcement of the move, “Every visa adjudication is a national security decision. Effective immediately, all individuals applying for an F, M, or J non-immigrant visa are requested to adjust the privacy settings on all of their personal social media accounts to ‘public’ to facilitate vetting necessary to establish their identity and admissibility to the United States.

Trump has implemented a rigorous immigration policy since taking office, requiring the expulsion of illegal immigrants from the United States.

Trump issued a slew of executive orders calling for an expanded and extremely stringent screening process during the visa-granting process to guarantee that those granted visas and permitted to enter the United States do not intend to harm citizens.

He also ordered continuing immigration screening and ensured that individuals already in the United States did not aid what he deemed foreign terrorist groups and did not harbour hatred towards the country.

US threatens Nigerians with permanent travel ban, deportation over visa overstay