A United States federal judge has struck down the Trump administration's blanket suspension of immigrant visa issuance to nationals of 75 countries, including Nigeria, ruling that the policy exceeded the legal authority of Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

US District Judge Jeannette Vargas of the Southern District of New York issued the ruling on Friday, August 21, setting aside the State Department policy that had been in effect since January 21.

The decision is significant for thousands of people whose family-based and employment-based immigrant visa cases were affected by the policy.

However, the ruling does not mean that all US visa restrictions affecting Nigerians have been removed.

Nigeria is subject to a separate set of restrictions under Presidential Proclamation 10998, which took effect on January 1, 2026. That proclamation is distinct from the 75-country immigrant visa policy struck down by Vargas.

The policy before the New York court was introduced by the State Department and indefinitely paused immigrant visa issuance to nationals of 75 countries regarded by the administration as presenting a higher risk of relying on public benefits in the United States.

Nigeria appeared on that list alongside countries including Ghana, Egypt, Brazil, Colombia, Pakistan, Russia, Jamaica, Ethiopia and Morocco. The State Department's own guidance confirms that the pause applied to Nigerian immigrant visa applicants.

Vargas ruled that the State Department could not impose such a blanket nationality-based restriction through the authority claimed by Rubio.

Reuters reported that the judge found the policy inconsistent with federal immigration law, which assigns consular officers responsibility for deciding individual immigrant visa applications according to statutory criteria.

The court vacated the policy rather than providing relief only to the individuals who brought the lawsuit.

According to the National Immigration Law Center, one of the organisations representing the challengers, the ruling invalidated the blanket 75-country policy on the grounds that it exceeded the Secretary of State's statutory and regulatory authority and conflicted with nationality-discrimination protections in US immigration law.

The decision also affects immigrant visa refusals that were based solely on the now-vacated policy, potentially requiring affected applications to return to consular officers for reconsideration under normal immigration law.

For Nigerians, however, there is an important second layer.

Presidential Proclamation 10998 separately placed Nigeria in a group of countries subject to partial visa restrictions from January 1.

Official State Department guidance says those restrictions suspend the issuance of all immigrant visas, as well as B-1/B-2 business and tourist visas and F, M and J student and exchange visas to affected Nigerian nationals, subject to specified exceptions.

That presidential proclamation was not the policy struck down in Friday's ruling.

This means a Nigerian applicant may no longer be blocked by the specific 75-country "public charge" pause overturned by Vargas but could still be prevented from receiving a visa under the separate presidential restrictions where those restrictions apply.

The distinction is particularly important because social media posts and some headlines describing the judgment simply as the lifting of a "US visa ban" could give Nigerian applicants the impression that all restrictions have ended.

They have not.

The State Department also states that applicants affected by Presidential Proclamation 10998 may continue submitting visa applications and attending scheduled interviews, but eligibility for actual visa issuance remains subject to the proclamation and its exceptions.

The 75-country policy had itself been challenged in Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. v. Rubio by immigrant-rights organisations and individuals, including US citizens seeking visas for relatives abroad.

Reuters said the plaintiffs included people affected by family separation and employment-based immigration cases.

The administration argued that the restrictions formed part of efforts to prevent immigrants considered likely to become dependent on public assistance.

The judge rejected the blanket approach, finding that immigration law requires individualised assessment rather than automatic refusal based solely on an applicant's nationality.

As of the latest reports reviewed by The Verita Post, the State Department had not publicly announced how it would implement the ruling or whether the Trump administration would seek to stay or appeal the judgment. Reuters reported that the department did not immediately comment following the decision.

For Nigerians planning travel, study or permanent migration to the United States, the practical takeaway is therefore narrower than the headline "visa ban struck down" might suggest: one major immigrant visa restriction has been invalidated by a federal court, but Nigeria remains subject to separate US visa restrictions under Presidential Proclamation 10998.