Nigerian doctors are set to benefit from a policy reversal in the United States that allows physicians to resume visa applications and processing.

Earlier in the year, the US introduced a broad visa restriction affecting several countries, including Nigeria, citing national security concerns.

The policy disrupted visa renewals for foreign doctors, many of whom are Nigerians, after the US Citizenship and Immigration Services paused processing.

According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, 25.6 per cent of active physicians in the United States are international medical graduates.

A 2024 global health workforce database ranked Nigerians as the sixth-largest group of foreign doctors in the US on the J-1 visa category, while H-1B visa holders were not included in the ranking.

In a policy reversal last week, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services quietly updated its website, without a formal announcement—to confirm that physicians are no longer subject to the earlier processing hold.

“Applications associated with medical physicians will continue processing,” the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a separate statement made available to The New York Times.

The AAMC noted that the United States is currently facing a shortage of about 65,000 physicians.

It added that this gap is expected to widen significantly over the next decade as the population ages, Americans live longer, and a growing number of doctors retire from practice.

On April 8, several medical associations, including the American Academy of Family Physicians, American Academy of Neurology, and American Academy of Pediatrics, sent a joint letter to the U.S. Secretaries of State and Homeland Security, voicing “urgent concern” over barriers preventing qualified, vetted physicians from entering and remaining in the United States.

The groups called for a national-interest exemption from the policy and urged expedited processing of affected visa applications.