The State Department on Monday said US visa applicants who were deprived of visa due to former President Donald Trump’s travel ban on 13 countries, mostly Muslim-majority and African countries, among whom was Nigeria, can now reapply.
President Joe Biden had on January 20, 2021, overturned the Muslin ban on his first day in office, describing it as “a stain on our national conscience” in his proclamation.
According to the State Department spokesperson Ned Price, applicants who were denied visa before January 20, 2020, must submit new applications and pay a new application fee.
Price told Reuters that applicants who were denied on or after Jan. 20, 2020, may seek reconsideration without re-submitting their applications and do not have to pay additional fees.
Applicants selected in the diversity visa lottery before the current fiscal year are barred by US law from being issued visas if they have not gotten them already, he said. The diversity lottery aims to accept immigrants from countries that are not normally awarded many visas.
Data from State Department suggest about 40,000 people have been denied entry to the US under the ban since December 2017, after a revised version of the original travel ban was upheld by the US Supreme Court.