Trump Orders Nigerians Seeking Green Card To Return Home,The United States said the policy is necessary to strengthen immigration laws aimed at preventing migrants influx under the Trump administration.
Kano —
United States President Donald Trump has directed that Nigerians and other nationals applying for green cards must return to their home countries to apply for the process.
The new immigration development was disclosed on Friday.
In a statement issued by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency said the policy was aimed at restoring what it described as the “original intent” of US immigration law.
The statement noted that aliens seeking adjustment of status would henceforth be required to process their residency applications through US consular offices abroad under the supervision of the United States Department of State.
Trump Orders Nigerians Seeking Green Card To Return Home
“We’re returning to the original intent of the law to ensure aliens navigate our nation’s immigration system properly. From now on, an alien who is in the U.S. temporarily and wants a Green Card must return to their home country to apply, except in extraordinary circumstances.” the agency said
USCIS spokesman, Zach Kahler, said the policy would help reduce the number of migrants remaining illegally in the country after unsuccessful residency applications.
“This policy allows our immigration system to function as the law intended instead of incentivising loopholes. When aliens apply from their home country, it reduces the need to find and remove those who decide to slip into the shadows and remain in the U.S. illegally after being denied residency,” Kahler said
Trump Orders Nigerians Seeking Green Card To Return Home
The agency explained that the policy would particularly affect temporary visitors such as students, tourists and workers who enter the U.S. on nonimmigrant visas.
” Nonimmigrants, like students, temporary workers, or people on tourist visas, come to the U.S. for a short time and for a specific purpose. Our system is designed for them to leave when their visit is over. Their visit should not function as the first step in the Green Card process,” the statement added.
USCIS further argued that routing residency applications through consular offices abroad would free up limited agency resources to focus on other immigration priorities.
The statement added that the agency would be able to dedicate more attention to applications involving victims of violent crimes, human trafficking cases, naturalisation requests and other immigration services under its jurisdiction.
Trump Orders Nigerians Seeking Green Card To Return Home
“The law was written this way for a reason, and despite the fact that it has been ignored for years, following it will help make our system fairer and more efficient.”
Recall that in December 2025, Trump temporarily halted the processing of green card and citizenship applications filed by Nigerians and nationals of other countries newly added to the US travel ban.
The suspension affects legal immigration applications handled by the USCIS and mainly targets immigrants from selected African and Asian countries.
Many of those affected are already living legally in the United States and were seeking to adjust their immigration status or become American citizens.
Trump Orders Nigerians Seeking Green Card To Return Home
Also, the Trump administration directed USCIS to freeze all immigration petitions, including applications for permanent residency and citizenship, from nationals of 19 countries covered by the travel ban announced in June.
The decision followed the Thanksgiving week shooting of two National Guard soldiers in Washington DC, an attack carried out by an Afghan national.
Trump Partially Restrict Entry Of Nigerians,14 African Nationals To US
The United States President Donald Trump,had in December,partially restricted the entry of Nigeria and 14 other African nationals into the United States.
This was disclosed in a statement signed and published on the White House website titled “Restricting and Limiting the Entry of Foreign Nationals to Protect the Security Of The United States,”
The travel restriction which took effect in January 2026 cited security concerns and difficulties in vetting nationals. The ban would affect Nigerians and other citizens of black nations hoping to travel to the United States.
According to the statement, the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Director of National Intelligence, had been directed by Proclamation 10949 of June 4, 2025 (Restricting the Entry of Foreign Nationals To Protect the United States From Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats) to submit a report to the President describing his assessment.
Trump Orders Nigerians Seeking Green Card To Return Home
“After reviewing the report described in subsection (d) of this section, and after accounting for the foreign policy, national security, and counterterrorism objectives of the United States, I have determined to partially restrict and limit the entry of nationals of the following 15 countries: Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Cote d ‘Ivoire, Dominica, Gabon, The Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Tonga, Zambia, and Zimbabwe” the statement reads
President Trump added that these restrictions distinguish immigrants and non immigrants but apply to both.
He added that radical Islamic terrorist groups such as Boko Haram and the Islamic State operating freely in certain parts of Nigeria have made vetting and screening difficult.
Therefore,he suspended entry into the US by Nigerians as immigrants and non immigrants on B-1,B-2,B-1/B-2,F,M,and J visas while consular officers shall reduce the validity for any other nonimmigrant visa issued to Nigerians to the extent permitted by law.
President Trump widely known for his anti black and immigrants policy in recent weeks has used abusive languages in denouncing African-origin immigrants.
During a recent rally he said that the United States was only taking people from “shithole countries” and instead should seek immigrants from Norway and Sweden.
