Immigrant visa applications from Nigeria and at least 74 other countries are set to face an indefinite halt at United States embassies and consulates as Washington tightens immigration screening over concerns that some migrants could become dependent on public welfare programmes.
The move follows a directive issued by the US Department of State instructing consular officers to pause the processing of immigrant visa applications for the affected countries from January 21, pending a comprehensive reassessment of screening and vetting procedures.
The instruction was contained in an internal memorandum first reported by Fox News.
Under the directive, visa officers have been authorised to refuse applications using existing provisions of US immigration law while the review is ongoing.
The suspension applies across multiple immigrant visa categories and will remain in force indefinitely until the reassessment is concluded, although the State Department has not provided a timeline for when the process will be completed.
The policy shift is linked to the “public charge” rule, a long-standing component of US immigration law that allows authorities to deny visas to individuals considered likely to rely on public benefits.
In November 2025, the State Department issued fresh guidance to embassies and consulates worldwide, directing stricter enforcement of the rule.
That guidance expanded the factors consular officers must weigh when assessing applicants.
These include age, health status, English language proficiency, financial capacity, employment prospects and the potential need for long-term medical care.
Applicants judged to be at risk of becoming dependent on public assistance may be denied entry under the revised approach.
Somalia has drawn particular scrutiny from US authorities following a major fraud investigation in Minnesota, where federal prosecutors uncovered widespread abuse of taxpayer-funded welfare programmes.
Officials said many of those implicated were Somali nationals or Somali-Americans, a development that heightened attention on visa applications linked to the country.
Although Nigeria was not singled out in the internal memo, its inclusion places Africa’s most populous nation among a group of countries now subject to tougher migration controls.
This comes at a time when large numbers of Nigerians apply annually for student, work, tourist and family-based visas to the United States.
The countries affected by the pause span Africa, Asia, Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America.
They include Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Azerbaijan, the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Bhutan, Bosnia, Brazil, Burma, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominica, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, The Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria,
Others include Pakistan, the Republic of the Congo, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Uruguay, Uzbekistan and Yemen.
The State Department has not clarified whether humanitarian exemptions will apply under the new arrangement, nor has it explained how applicants already in the system will be treated.
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