This is an automatically generated report on immigration from Nigeria to the United States of America using data from the US State Department and the US Department of Homeland Security.
For Fiscal Year 2021 there were 24,726 nonimmigrant visas issued for Nigeria, compared to a global average of 13,960 nonimmigrant visas issued per country. This represents a -25% change from the previous fiscal year.
| Visa | FY 2021 | FY2020 | % Change | FY2016 | 2021-2016 % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Business visitor or tourist (B1/B2) | 13,593 | 28,752 | -52.7% | 162,996 | -91.7% |
| Student (F1) | 6,311 | 1,233 | 411.8% | 6,758 | -6.6% |
| Diplomat or foreign government official (A2) | 805 | 688 | 17% | 1,152 | -30.1% |
| Dependents of F1 visa holder (F2) | 753 | 165 | 356.4% | 705 | 6.8% |
| Exchange Visitor (J1) | 692 | 242 | 186% | 1,008 | -31.3% |
| Employee of a designated international organization or NATO (G4) | 424 | 282 | 50.4% | 285 | 48.8% |
| Employee of a designated international organization or NATO (G2) | 284 | 198 | 43.4% | 280 | 1.4% |
| Fiancé(e) to marry U.S. Citizen & live in U.S. (K1) | 252 | 278 | -9.4% | 1,014 | -75.1% |
| Diplomat or foreign government official (A1) | 228 | 78 | 192.3% | 180 | 26.7% |
| Exchange Visitor (J2) | 221 | 61 | 262.3% | 118 | 87.3% |
From 2022-07-01 to 2021-08-01 there were 4,451 immigrant visas issued for Nigeria compared to a global average of 2,409 immigrant visas per country over the same time period.
| Visa | Total Visas Issued |
|---|---|
| Professionals and Other Workers (E3) | 1,279 |
| Parents of US Citizen (IR5) | 789 |
| Spouse of a U.S. Citizen (IR1) | 583 |
| Unmarried children of IR1 Visa Holders (IR2) | 487 |
| Siblings of US citizens and/or their children and spouses (F4) | 393 |
| Professionals Holding Advanced Degrees and Persons of Exceptional Ability (E2) | 176 |
| Married children of US citizens and their spouses and their children (F3) | 161 |
| Unmarried sons and daughters of US Citizens and their children (F1) | 116 |
| Certain Special Immigrant (SE) | 98 |
| Spouse of a U.S. Citizen (CR1) | 95 |
For Fiscal Year 2020, 12,398 people from Nigeria were granted permanent residence in the US, also known as a “green card”.
| Admission Class | Total New Residencies Granted |
|---|---|
| Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens | 8,385 |
| Family-sponsored preferences | 2,040 |
| Employment-based preferences | 1,670 |
| Refugees and asylees | 281 |
| Other | 15 |
| Diversity | 7 |
| US State | Total New Residencies Granted |
|---|---|
| Texas | 2,809 |
| Maryland | 1,323 |
| New York | 1,048 |
| Georgia | 981 |
| California | 897 |
| Illinois | 665 |
| New Jersey | 592 |
| Indiana | 440 |
| Florida | 338 |
| Pennsylvania | 336 |
| Metro Area | Total New Residencies Granted |
|---|---|
| New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA | 1,450 |
| Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX | 1,435 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | 948 |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | 851 |
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta, GA | 839 |
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI | 640 |
| Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD | 595 |
| Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN | 378 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | 338 |
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | 308 |
Moving on the refugees and asylees (asylum seekers), in FY 2020 there were new refugee arrivals and 562 new asylees. The primary difference between refugees and asylees is that refugees are not currently in the US while asylees are either already in the US or at a point of entry. Among asylees, 411 were affirmative asylees, who had proactively applied for asylum, and 151 were defensive asylees, meaning they are currently in removal proceedings in an immigration court.
Sometimes immigrants, legal or otherwise, must be removed from their host country. In FY 2020, 488 people from Nigeria were determined inadmissible, meaning they were not approved to enter the US. A further 551 were apprehended within the US on suspicion of being there illegally, of which 60 were removed for non-criminal charges and 174 were removed on criminal charges, with the remainder either released on still awaiting a final decision.