By Abiola Olawale
The Nigerian Federal Government has announced plans to implement reciprocal measures in response to the United States’ tightened visa regulations for Nigerian citizens.
The move comes after the US mandated Nigerian visa applicants to disclose their social media profiles and activities from the past five years.
In a swift reaction, Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through spokesperson Kimiebi Ebienfa, declared that the country would mirror the US policy by imposing similar requirements on American citizens applying for Nigerian visas.
He also revealed that an inter-agency meeting involving the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Interior, and the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) would be convened to finalize Nigeria’s response.
He said: “We are aware of the development. I think it’s part of the new measures they informed us about before now that they will implement. Well, they mentioned those issues before.
“So, on things of this nature, the best we can do is to carry out reciprocal action. Some people from the US might want to apply for a visa, and we will adopt the same measures.
‘’I think that’s what the government might do because anything visa is reciprocal. What you are mandating our nationals to do, we will also mandate your citizens applying for our visa to do.
“The government will have an inclusive meeting that will involve the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Interior, and also our National Intelligence Agency, NIA.
“So, the stakeholders that are involved will have a meeting and agree on our best way to respond to it holistically.”
The New Diplomat reports that this comes after the US Department of State on July 8, 2025, introduced updates to its non-immigrant visa policy for Nigerians, limiting most non-immigrant and non-diplomatic visas, such as B1/B2 (business and tourism), F (student), and J (exchange visitor) categories, to single-entry permits with a three-month validity period.
Additionally, the US Mission in Nigeria recently announced that Nigerian visa applicants must provide detailed social media histories, warning that non-compliance could lead to visa denials or future entry bans.
