Visa Ban On Nigeria Temporary, Says US Ambassador

Posted by African Examiner Featured, Latest Headlines, News Tuesday, February 18th, 2020

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – The United States has said that the immigrant visa ban placed on Nigeria was a temporary policy that will be reviewed when Nigerian government meets certain conditions.

The US Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Leonard, stated this during a visit to the minister of labour and productivity, Chris Ngige.

“I need to clarify something for you here, the immigrant visa ban does not affect people who are currently resident in the United States.

“It does not cancel the status of anyone who currently is in the United States.

“What Secretary Pompey said was something that was meant to be temporary.

“And it is about problems with information sharing which are investigable, achievable and resolvable and we look forward to Nigeria in a very short time being able to meet that information sharing goal so that the decision can be reviewed.”

In his response, Chief Ngige said it was shocking that Nigerians despite their massive contributions to US economy would be included in the visa ban.

“Some of these Nigerians are medical doctors, engineers and people with high level of proficiency in oil and gas fields.

“They were all part of the Nigerian residents in the US and it came to us as a rude shock when the US government banned Nigerians and put us in the list of those countries whose residency status have been cancelled.”