- No less than 26 international locations have seen reductions in validity of non-immigrant visas, although the scenario stays fluid
- After three months, college students should apply for a brand new visa every time they re-enter the US, incurring further charges
- US worldwide scholar enrolment is projected to say no by 30-40% amid all of the disruption
As visa appointments slowly reopen at US consulates throughout the globe, State Division modifications to visa reciprocity guidelines are inflicting additional uncertainty for college students from 26 nations throughout Africa, Asia and Oceania.
The change adopted reviews of an inner cable purportedly citing 36 international locations that might be topic to journey bans.
Notably, worldwide college students from Nigeria and Ghana will solely be eligible for single entry, three-month visas to the US – a key growth inflicting additional uncertainty amongst potential college students from these key supply international locations.
“In furtherance of Govt Order 14161, the division has lowered nonimmigrant visa validity for nationals of sure international locations,” a State Division spokesperson instructed The PIE Information.
“College students from Ghana and Nigeria – international locations with single-entry-visas – would want to use for a brand new visa in the event that they depart the US and want to return. Nevertheless, they don’t seem to be required to resume their visa whereas they continue to be in the US,” they defined.
So long as college students stay totally enrolled and make regular progress in the direction of their diploma, “they’re permitted to remain lawfully, even after the visa itself has expired,” stated Aaron Blumberg, immigration companion at Fragomen regulation agency.
Nevertheless, as their visa is now restricted to single entry and a brief validity interval, college students should apply for a brand new visa every time they journey outdoors the US, whatever the purpose or length of their journey.
Stakeholders have warned that the change introduces substantial hurdles for worldwide college students visiting household overseas, which is able to contain further visa charges every time, alongside cautious planning and probably lengthy waits for appointments.
“The logistics of navigating a single-entry visa underneath these circumstances are unclear, and lots of college students are understandably anxious about how you can proceed,” Bimpe Femi-Oyewo, CEO of Edward Consulting in Nigeria, instructed The PIE.
Femi-Oyewo stated a single-entry visa was “merely not sensible” for college students enrolled in two- or four-year packages, a lot of which embrace examine overseas alternatives and world immersion journeys that college students from affected international locations might now miss out on.
“It’s a annoying, unpredictable course of, and the stakes are excessive,” she emphasised.
Along with abroad internships and analysis collaborations, graduate college students presenting their work at conferences overseas and college students travelling for educational or athletic competitions shall be amongst these going through further dangers, highlighted Blumberg.
What’s extra, the coverage change makes the timing of the preliminary visa utility way more delicate.
“If a scholar applies too early, for instance in March for an August program begin, the visa could also be issued with an expiration date in June, that means it will expire earlier than the coed is eligible to enter the US,” defined Blumberg.
“In that case, they must re-apply. But when they wait too lengthy and encounter appointment backlogs or processing delays, the visa will not be issued in time for his or her program begin,” he added.
In accordance with the State Division’s International Affairs Guide, visa insurance policies for various nations are “primarily based on what that nation offers to US residents for a similar goal of journey”, although this has been disputed by the West African nations.
In response to the change, Nigerian presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga stated his nation continued to supply five-year multiple-entry visas to US nationals, refuting the US authorities’s declare of reciprocity.
It’s a annoying, unpredictable course of, and the stakes are excessive
Bimpo Pimple, Edward Consulting
Likewise, Ghana’s authorities stated it had issued greater than 28,500 a number of entry visas to US residents this yr, and that it hoped for an “early decision” to the problem, in line with the BBC.
Notably, people within the US on visas issued previous to July 8, 2025 will retain their standing and validity, stated the US embassy in Nigeria, sustaining that visa reciprocity was a “steady course of and is topic to revie and alter at any time”.
Sending over 20,000 college students to the US in 2023/24, Nigeria stands as America’s seventh largest supply of worldwide college students.
For his or her half, Ghanaian college students totalled almost 9,400 final yr, in line with the most recent IIE Open Doorways knowledge, although the upcoming fall semester might reveal a wildly totally different image.
Considerations round three-month visas add to the already unstable scenario for US-bound worldwide college students, grappling with the State Division’s visa interview freeze and enhanced social media screening inflicting widespread delays at US embassies.
Coupled with Trump’s June 4 journey bans barring college students from 19 international locations from acquiring new visas to check within the US, visa issuance has slowed to alarming charges and is forecast to drop by 30-40% within the upcoming fall semester.
Together with India and China, consulates in Nigeria have been amongst these experiencing the very best circumstances of cancelled appointments and unavailability in June and July – sometimes the height months for visa issuance.
Although a number of interview slots have “lastly opened up”, stakeholders in Nigeria are nonetheless seeing a “excessive quantity of visa denials even for college students who’re totally funded, have aggressive scholarships or possess sturdy journey histories” stated Femi-Oweyo.
And but, regardless of the hurdles, Femi-Oweyo stated she didn’t consider the coverage would deter Nigerians or broader African communities from pursuing a US training.
“The US stays a prime vacation spot as a result of it’s nonetheless extensively seen because the land of alternative. I’m regularly shocked by the variety of college students who nonetheless prioritise the US above all different international locations, even with the rising complexities,” she stated.
