A US federal judge has struck down the Trump administration’s policy suspending the issuance of immigrant visas to nationals of 75 countries, including Nigeria.
US District Judge Jeannette Vargas, sitting in Manhattan, ruled on Friday that the policy exceeded the statutory authority of Secretary of State Marco Rubio and conflicted with US immigration law.
The judge described the policy as “patently unlawful”, according to Reuters.
The US Department of State introduced the suspension effective January 21, 2026, saying it was aimed at nationals considered to be at high risk of relying on public benefits in the United States.
The affected countries span Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America.
Apart from Nigeria, African countries on the list included Algeria, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Libya, Morocco, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia and Uganda.
Other affected countries included Afghanistan, Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Brazil, Cambodia, Colombia, Cuba, Georgia, Haiti, India, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Nepal, Nicaragua, North Macedonia, Pakistan, Russia, Thailand, Ukraine and Yemen*, among others.
The complete list published by the State Department contains 75 countries.
Under the policy, nationals of the affected countries could still submit immigrant visa applications and attend interviews, but the US government paused the issuance of the visas.
The measure applied specifically to immigrant visas for people seeking permanent residence, rather than tourist visas.
The lawsuit challenging the policy was brought by immigrant rights organisations, affected visa applicants and US citizens sponsoring relatives. They argued that the administration had unlawfully imposed a nationality-based restriction on legal immigration.
Judge Vargas agreed, ruling that the policy exceeded the Secretary of State’s authority and violated the statutory framework governing immigrant visas.
The ruling represents a setback for the Trump administration’s immigration policy and could provide relief for Nigerians and other nationals whose immigrant visa applications had been affected by the suspension.
However, the judgement does not remove other US visa restrictions affecting Nigerians.
The State Department has separate measures covering certain non-immigrant and immigrant visas for nationals of several countries, including Nigeria.
The State Department had not immediately announced how it would respond to the court ruling.
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