Secretly, the U.S. government has paused the issuance of OPT (Optional Practical Training - temporary work permit) to Nigerian students. They have also ceased awarding new student visas to Nigerians with full scholarships. They did this for several other visa categories, including F1, asylum, and naturalization. It is not that you cannot apply; you can; they just will not process your visa. The reasoning behind this remains a mystery, other than the fact that Nigeria is a nation of concern. No Nigerian has carried out a terrorist attack on U.S. soil or anywhere outside their country... Some relate this to the non-cooperation of President Tinubu's administration with the current U.S. government in making Nigeria a dumping ground for undocumented migrants. Ghanaians continue to enjoy access to all U.S. visas. The disheartening thing is that this ban/pause/whatever also extends to sponsorship of siblings and several other visa categories... A new executive order, a few days ago, stipulates that those in the U.S. who have a Green Card visa application interview MUST go out to their home country to have the interview. Another disturbing new policy in the last few days is that the U.S. State Department is planning to consolidate its visa-processing operations in Africa, reducing the number of embassies and consulates handling routine visa interviews from roughly 50 to just 20 regional hubs across the continent.
Some of these visa policy changes are selective. The OPT ban, for example, affects only citizens of 39 countries. The new rule for the B1/B2 visa category will see fewer people applying to come to the U.S. from Nigeria and several other countries. You must cough out $15,000 as a placeholder when your B1/B2 visa is approved. You will lose that money if you overstay by a day. How many can afford $15,000 plus their travel costs, or leave that much money with the U.S. government for months? Many missed their wards' graduation this past weeks because of these new and inhumane draconian visa policies targeting people from certain countries – to me, as a punishment.
This fall, we expect no Nigerian graduate students to come to the U.S. for graduate school. I mean ZERO. No one is being issued student visas in Nigeria to the best of my knowledge… This is a departure from previous years when thousands of Nigerian students were given visas – perhaps the highest number from any African country… It will be ZERO in 2026.
If you are a Nigerian student who just graduated (at any level) from any U.S. university and you have not secured permanent status in the U.S. or secured another graduate admission, I advise you to apply for the U.S. Green Card, either under the NIW-EB2 or EB1a program (check for the one you are most qualified for) or OPT itself. THE LAW OF THE LAND SAYS YOU CANNOT BE IN VIOLATION OF YOUR CURRENT VISA IF YOU HAVE AN APPLICATION PENDING – PROCESSED OR NOT. Do not be discouraged by the fact that the applications are not being processed; as long as you submit your application before your current visa expires, you are covered by the law until you hear an outcome. We are yet to hear that they are denying NIW-EB2 or EB1a visa applications – the application status is just not changing…
GOOD NEWS with CAUTION: A U.S. federal judge last Friday (June 5, 2026) struck down policies that froze and delayed immigration benefits, including Optional Practical Training (OPT) [AND F-1 student benefits, asylum, green cards, and naturalization] processing, for foreign nationals from 39 designated countries. Let us hope the verdict is not appealed.
It is disheartening when policies related to intellectual growth and talent acquisition are predicated on politics and retribution. My hope is that the U.S. system that has risen up to address many historic instances of discrimination will prevail in this particular situation, and justice will be served for those who are seeking freedom and better opportunities to make contributions to humanity, just like the founding fathers.
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