A United States federal court has struck down a Trump administration policy that suspended immigrant visa processing for citizens of Nigeria and 74 other countries.
The ruling was delivered by U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas at the Southern District of New York on Friday, August 21, 2026.
The court found that the policy, introduced by the U.S. Department of State in January, was unlawful and went beyond the authority granted to Secretary of State Marco Rubio under federal immigration law.
The decision is a major development for Nigerians and other foreign nationals whose applications for U.S. immigrant visas were affected by the suspension.
The policy had stopped the issuance of immigrant visas to applicants from 75 countries.
The administration had justified the move on concerns that applicants from the affected countries could become dependent on public assistance after entering the United States.
Nigeria was among the African countries placed on the list.
Other countries affected included Ghana, Cameroon, Gambia, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Ivory Coast, Togo and Tunisia.
The list also covered countries in Asia, Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America. It included Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Iran, Iraq, Russia, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica and several others.
The State Department introduced the suspension on January 21, 2026. Under the policy, immigrant visa applications from nationals of the affected countries were placed on hold indefinitely while the U.S. government carried out a review of its immigration procedures.
The administration said the review was designed to strengthen screening and prevent immigrants who were considered likely to depend on government welfare from entering the country.
A State Department cable sent to U.S. missions instructed consular officials to stop issuing affected immigrant visas, including some applications that had already been authorised for printing but had not yet been printed.
The government argued that nationals from the countries on the list were more likely to become a “public charge” after arriving in the United States.
In defending the policy, Principal Deputy State Department Spokesperson Tommy Pigott said: “The State Department will use its long-standing authority to deem ineligible potential immigrants who would become a public charge on the United States and exploit the generousity of the American people.”
He added: “Immigration from these 75 countries will be paused while the State Department reassess immigration processing procedures to prevent the entry of foreign nationals who would take welfare and public benefits.”
The Trump administration had also pointed to welfare-use figures among immigrant households as part of its justification for the measure.
The policy became particularly significant for people seeking to join family members already living legally in the United States.
It also affected some employment-based immigrant visa applicants whose cases had already progressed through parts of the immigration process.
The court challenge was filed after affected families, visa applicants and immigrant rights organisations argued that the State Department had unlawfully created a nationality-based barrier to legal immigration.
The plaintiffs included the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. and African Communities Together.
They were joined by U.S. citizens sponsoring relatives and foreign nationals seeking family-based or employment-based immigrant visas. The case was filed in February before Judge Vargas.
The plaintiffs argued that the federal government could not simply suspend immigrant visa issuance for people from selected countries without following the legal framework established by Congress.
Judge Vargas agreed.
In her ruling, she said the policy conflicted with the structure of federal immigration law.
She also rejected the administration’s attempt to use the nationality of applicants as the basis for a blanket suspension of immigrant visa issuance.
“The policy, which categorically prohibits the issuance of immigrant visas based upon the nationality of the applicant, represents a direct abrogation of this statutory scheme,” she wrote.
The judge further held that the policy exceeded Rubio’s statutory authority as Secretary of State.
She described the policy as “patently unlawful” and vacated it under the Administrative Procedure Act. The ruling also goes beyond simply stopping the suspension.
The court ordered the State Department to restore lawful, case-by-case consideration of immigrant visa applications and set aside visa denials that were based solely on the now-invalid policy.
The ruling therefore provides a potential path forward for applicants whose cases were affected by the January suspension.
However, the decision does not mean that every Nigerian or other affected national will automatically receive a U.S. immigrant visa.
Applicants will still have to satisfy the normal requirements for immigrant visa processing.
Their cases can also remain subject to other immigration rules, security checks, medical requirements and individual eligibility decisions.
