The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has clarified its decision to implement rigorous visa criteria for Nigerian applicants. According to the agency, widespread document forgery and internal corruption have severely undermined the reliability of Nigerian records.
Angelica Alfonso-Royals, the Deputy Director of USCIS, presented these arguments before the US District Court for the District of Rhode Island. She defended the department’s choice to suspend visa processing for Nigerians and citizens from 38 other nations, citing concerns regarding terrorism and public safety. This administrative pause followed executive proclamations issued by President Donald Trump between December 2025 and January 2026, which targeted specific countries considered high-risk.
Alfonso-Royals explained that government records in Nigeria are frequently compromised by falsification. She noted that birth and death certificates are often registered long after the event, usually only when necessity dictates. Additionally, she pointed out that marriage and divorce proceedings are frequently absent from official government databases, and existing records often suffer from significant maintenance issues.
