How Trump’s visa ban will affect Nigerian students
Every year, more than 60,000 students from Nigeria show interest in studying in America. Among these prospective students, only about 13,000 of them make it. The rest are denied the opportunity due to academic, financial and other reasons.
Despite the high cost of studying in the United States, the country is one of the top destinations for Nigerian students. According to the Institute of International Education (IIE), Nigerian students make up about one-third of all African students studying in more than 1,000 institutions in the U.S. These students contributed 514 million dollars to the U.S. economy in 2018.
Reports show that Nigerian students are also among the best-performing students in the U.S. Data from the US Census Bureau shows that Nigerians feature consistently among the highest educational attainment in the country.
“Many of the people 25 years or older reporting Nigerian ancestry had a bachelor’s degree or higher compared to the US population,” it says.
But following the recent visa restrictions placed on Nigeria, many Nigerian students who wish to study in the U.S are worried about how this will affect them.
Trump’s controversial visa ban is expected to suspend Nigerians from applying for immigrant visas ― the type of visa given to people seeking to live in the U.S. permanently.
But the ban does not affect tourism, business, and student travel. This means that Nigerian students can still obtain visas for studies in the U.S.
Before now, many Nigerian citizens have been experiencing difficulties in securing visas to the US. Many argue that this is because a lot of Nigerians overstay their visas. In 2018 alone, around 30,000 Nigerians overstayed their US visas.
However, the U.S cited Nigeria’s noncompliance in sharing terrorism-related information with its government as one of the reasons for the ban.
“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,” the proclamation reads.
As a result of this, Trump’s administration decided to ban Nigerians from obtaining the U.S immigrant visa.
“The entry into the United States of nationals of Nigeria as immigrants, except as Special Immigrants whose eligibility is based on having provided assistance to the United States Government, is hereby suspended.”
Despite the ban, Nigerian students can still secure a U.S visa without any restrictions. It is not yet clear if the students can get resident visas to stay back in the country after their studies.
Meanwhile, the federal government has issued a statement after the ban saying that they will work towards resolving the issue.
According to Presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, Nigeria will work with the “US Government, INTERPOL and other stakeholders to ensure all updates are properly implemented.”
