By Boluwatife Oshadiya | August 31, 2026
Key Points
- Canada has shut two major immigration programmes and introduced new fees, while the US has paused immigrant visa processing for Nigerians, imposed a visa bond of up to $15,000 and proposed a $103,265 H-1B employer fee
- Japan has enacted its first visa fee revision since 1978, raising single-entry visa costs by 400% and announcing a 20-fold increase in permanent residency application fees effective October 2026
- Ireland and Quebec have opened new pathways for skilled workers and foreign graduates, offering some relief against a broader global trend of tighter immigration controls
Main Story
From the United States to Canada, Europe, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, 2026 has brought a wave of immigration policy changes affecting Africans seeking jobs, permanent residence, study opportunities and family migration abroad.
Some countries have created new routes for skilled workers to address labour shortages, while others have increased visa fees, tightened eligibility requirements or introduced tougher conditions for migrants. The cumulative effect has been a more expensive, more competitive and more uncertain landscape for Nigerians and other Africans considering relocation.
Nigeria has become synonymous with what is now widely known as the “Japa” syndrome — the growing desire among citizens of Africa’s most populous nation to leave for Europe, North America or other destinations in search of better opportunities and improved quality of life. Research by Nairametrics shows that recent changes have made it increasingly difficult for Nigerians to migrate abroad. The UK remained the most popular Japa destination in raw volume as recently as 2024, with approximately 52,000 Nigerians migrating there, primarily on work and study visas. The US, once the most aspirational destination for Nigerian professionals in medicine, technology and finance, has seen that path significantly restricted.
These are the 18 biggest immigration policy changes announced or implemented between January 1 and August 25, 2026, and what they mean for Nigerians and other Africans planning to move abroad.
1. Canada Closes Major Immigration Pathways
Canada began 2026 with a significant reduction in some immigration options.
On January 7, Canada’s Start-up Visa Programme officially closed to new applications from January 1, except for applicants who had already secured a valid commitment from a designated organisation in 2025. The country’s Home Care Worker Immigration Pilots also remained closed, with the pause extended until 2030.
The changes marked a broader shift by Canada towards more targeted immigration rather than expanding temporary and business migration programmes indiscriminately.
2. US Pauses Immigrant Visa Processing for Nigerians
On January 14, it was confirmed that the United States would pause immigrant visa processing for nationals of about 75 countries, including Nigeria, beginning January 21.
The development was particularly significant for Nigerians seeking permanent migration to the US because it affected immigrant visa processing rather than ordinary short-term travel visas. Nigeria falls under what immigration lawyers have described as a partial suspension category, meaning that entry as an immigrant — for those seeking green cards and permanent residency — has been suspended. The suspension additionally covers certain non-immigrant visa categories, including B-1/B-2 visitor visas and F, M and J student and exchange visitor visas.
Nigeria’s rejection rate for US tourist visa applications had already climbed to 57% in fiscal year 2025, up from 46.51% in fiscal year 2024, according to the US State Department.
The Federal Government of Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs had urged the United States to reconsider the restrictions, stating in an official communiqué that the country called on the US government to reverse the decision “in the spirit of partnership, cooperation and shared global responsibilities.”
3. Nigerians Face a US Visa Bond of Up to $15,000
Another major US development affecting Nigerians came into effect at the beginning of the year. Certain Nigerian applicants for B1/B2 business and tourism visas became subject to a visa bond requirement of up to $15,000. By August 3, 2026, the visa bond programme covering Nigeria had been made permanent at up to $20,000.
The measure added a potentially significant financial barrier for Nigerians seeking temporary entry to the US. The policy came amid a wider US crackdown on visa overstays and immigration violations.
4. Canada Creates Five Priority Talent Categories
Canada also introduced a more targeted approach to skilled immigration. On February 19, Canada announced five priority talent categories under its revamped 2026 Express Entry system.
The objective was to attract workers with skills in areas facing labour shortages rather than relying solely on general immigration scores. Healthcare and other specialised professions were among the areas receiving greater attention.
5. UK Increases Visa Fees
The UK announced higher visa, Electronic Travel Authorisation and citizenship fees on March 20, with the new charges taking effect from April 8.
For workers, the Skilled Worker visa fee for applications of up to three years increased from £769 to £819, while applications exceeding three years rose from £1,519 to £1,618.
The increase adds to the cost of migration for Nigerians and other Africans who rely heavily on the UK employment and study routes. The UK remains the most popular destination for Nigerian migrants in raw volume, driven primarily by demand for healthcare workers and international students.
6. Australia Raises Salary Requirement for Sponsored Workers
Australia increased the minimum salary that employers must offer foreign workers under eligible employer-sponsored visa streams. The new threshold was set at AUD 76,515 for the 2026 migration cycle.
The higher threshold makes employer-sponsored migration more selective but continues to favour professionals whose skills are in demand in Australia. Australia has maintained substantial allocations for skilled migration, continuing to position itself as an important destination for African professionals.
7. Canada Increases Permanent Residence Fees
Canada announced higher permanent-residence fees on March 31, with the changes taking effect from April 30.
The Right of Permanent Residence Fee increased from CAD 575 to CAD 600 for principal applicants and accompanying spouses or common-law partners.
While relatively small compared with other immigration changes, the increase adds to the overall cost of Canada’s migration process, particularly against the backdrop of other restrictive measures introduced during the year.
8. Alberta Introduces New Fee for Foreign Workers
Alberta introduced a CAD 135 fee for foreign workers submitting a Worker Expression of Interest profile under the Alberta Advantage Immigration Program.
The fee became payable at the first stage of the process, where applicants enter the provincial selection pool. Previously, submitting the expression of interest was free. Successful applicants would still have to pay the existing CAD 1,500 provincial nomination application fee if invited to apply.
9. Ireland Expands Work Permits
Ireland made one of the more positive changes for foreign workers on June 1, introducing 32 changes to its employment permit system.
The changes expanded the Critical Skills Employment Permit list, removed some occupations from the Ineligible Occupations List and introduced additional quotas for certain jobs. The changes cover areas including healthcare, construction, technology, engineering, agriculture and specialist services.
For Nigerians, Ireland remains particularly important because of the country’s established record of recruiting international professionals, especially in healthcare, where Nigerian-trained doctors and nurses have formed a significant part of the Irish health system’s international workforce.
10. UK Considers Lower Salary Thresholds
The UK could potentially make some skilled-worker routes more accessible after its Migration Advisory Committee proposed changes to salary requirements on June 10.
The committee recommended changes that could lower salary requirements for some sponsored occupations, including using the 25th percentile of earnings as the basis for some occupation-specific thresholds and a proposed £33,400 salary threshold for new entrants.
However, these were recommendations and not an immediate change to the UK’s immigration rules. The proposals are subject to government review and formal consultation before taking effect.
11. Quebec Reopens Permanent Residence Route
Quebec announced the reopening of its Quebec Experience Programme (PEQ) for foreign workers and international graduates.
Applications were opened from July 2, 2026, to July 2, 2028, with the first intake running until October 31. The reopening provides temporary residents whose immigration plans were disrupted by the previous closure with another route towards permanent residence in Canada’s French-speaking province.
12. Japan Raises Visa Fees by Up to 400% — Then Announces a 20-Fold Residency Fee Hike
Japan announced on June 21 that visa fees would increase from July 1, marking the country’s first major revision of visa charges since 1978.
The single-entry visa fee increased from ¥3,000 to ¥15,000, while multiple-entry visas rose from ¥6,000 to ¥30,000. Japan’s Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said the government reviewed the charges because the existing system “no longer reflected the true administrative cost of issuing visas and managing immigration procedures” after nearly five decades.
African nations are not among the countries with visa exemptions for Japan, meaning Nigerian and other African travellers will bear the full impact of the new fees.
Then on August 25, Japan announced a second wave of residency fee increases effective October 2026. The permanent residency application fee will rise from ¥10,000 to ¥200,000 — a 20-fold increase. Visa renewal fees will also change from a flat ¥6,000 to a status-based structure reaching as high as ¥75,000 for workers renewing a five-year visa.
Analysts at GaijinPot, a Japan-based platform for foreign workers, noted that “for job seekers — especially people on one-year contracts — it’s something you’ll start factoring into your salary” and that companies competing for foreign talent may begin offering visa renewal reimbursement as a benefit to offset the higher costs.
Japan’s foreign population reached a record 4.13 million at the end of 2025. The government says the additional revenue will help fund staffing, technology and infrastructure for immigration services, as well as Japanese-language education programmes for foreign residents.
13. New Zealand Tightens Some Open Work Visa Conditions
New Zealand introduced new employment conditions for certain open-work-visa holders. The changes, announced in February and taking effect on April 20, restrict holders of Migrant Exploitation Protection Work Visas, asylum seekers and working-holiday visas to specified forms of employment. Affected migrants must work under formal employment arrangements recognised by immigration authorities.
At the same time, New Zealand has expanded some graduate and post-study work opportunities, creating a mixed picture for African migrants.
14. Slovakia Gives Foreign Workers More Time to Find Jobs
Slovakia introduced new immigration rules on July 15 that extended national visas for certain foreign workers from 90 days to 120 days. Workers who lose their jobs were also given longer periods to secure new employment — three months for those with less than two years of residence, and up to six months for those with more than two years.
However, Slovakia also tightened documentation requirements, giving applicants less time to provide missing documents.
15. UK Moves Nigerian Travellers to Digital Immigration Records
The UK continued its transition away from physical immigration documents. By February 2026, Nigerian travellers and other new visa applicants had moved to a fully digital eVisa system, replacing physical visa stickers with electronic immigration records.
The change does not create a new visa route but significantly changes how Nigerians prove their immigration status when travelling and living in the UK. Nigerian residents in Britain are advised to ensure their digital immigration accounts are updated and accessible before travelling.
16. Trump Ends Birth Tourism
The United States introduced another major immigration development on August 7, when President Donald Trump signed an executive order specifically targeting what his administration describes as “birth tourism.”
The order seeks to prevent pregnant foreign nationals from using temporary US visas primarily to travel to the country to give birth, so their children can obtain US citizenship.
The development is particularly relevant to Nigerians, as Nigeria has historically been among the countries whose nationals travel to the US for childbirth. The move followed Trump’s broader January 2026 attempt to restrict birthright citizenship, which was challenged in court.
17. US Tightens Green Card Public-Charge Rules
On August 19, it was reported that the US was preparing tighter public-charge rules for Green Card applicants from September, making financial circumstances more important in assessing some immigration applications.
Additionally, since May 2026, foreigners temporarily residing in the US — including Nigerians — have generally been expected to return to their home countries to apply for Green Cards rather than adjusting their status from within the United States, subject to exceptions.
18. Trump Proposes $103,265 H-1B Fee
One of the biggest immigration stories of 2026 arrived on August 24, when the Trump administration proposed a $103,265 fee for new H-1B visas for highly skilled foreign workers. The proposal was published by the Department of Homeland Security in the Federal Register and opened a 30-day public comment period.
The Trump administration said the fee would go towards “recovering the costs of running the immigration system” and would encourage companies to hire American workers and pay them more. DHS said the government spends approximately $8.8 billion a year on immigration-related costs and that dividing that by the 85,000 H-1B visas available each year produces roughly the proposed fee.
The proposal follows Trump’s earlier $100,000 H-1B charge introduced in September 2025, which was struck down by a federal judge. Immigration attorney Elizabeth Ricci told Fortune that DHS’s new approach — using its fee-setting authority through formal notice-and-comment rulemaking — gives the policy “a better chance of surviving the litigation everyone expects.”
However, Adam Klein, a former Department of Homeland Security official and co-founder of immigration analytics firm Globali.ai, criticised the basis of the proposal, telling Newsweek: “We are talking about making employers seeking congressionally authorised H-1B workers responsible for financing a much broader portion of the federal immigration system, including functions that have little to do with adjudicating their petitions.”
Immigration attorney David Bier raised a further legal objection, noting that the fee could be challenged on the grounds that “immigration fees can only be imposed to recover the costs of adjudication and naturalisation services” and that “almost no one will risk more than $100,000 with no guarantee of approval.”
DHS itself estimated in its own documentation that if finalised, the fee would paralyse approximately 76% of small businesses that currently use the H-1B programme. Employers, trade groups, universities and technology associations are expected to submit comments opposing the proposal, and legal challenges are widely anticipated.
For African professionals — particularly those in technology, engineering, research and specialised fields — who rely on the H-1B as a pathway to US employment, the proposed fee could make employer sponsorship considerably more expensive, and for smaller employers, prohibitively so.
The Issues
The 18 changes documented here are not isolated policy decisions. They reflect three structural pressures reshaping global immigration simultaneously.
The politics of domestic labour markets. In the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, public and political pressure to prioritise local workers has intensified sharply since 2024. This has translated into higher fees designed to shift the cost of immigration administration onto employers and migrants, tighter qualification thresholds, and the reduction or closure of pathways seen as too broadly accessible.
The cost spiral for African migrants. Nigerian and other African professionals now face a compounding series of financial barriers. Where previously the primary cost of migration was the visa application fee and travel, candidates must now factor in visa bonds of up to $20,000 in the US, salary thresholds of AUD 76,515 in Australia, proof-of-funds requirements in Canada, and H-1B sponsorship fees that could exceed $100,000 if the US proposal is finalised. These costs accumulate across a single migration journey.
The divergence between developed-nation immigration needs and policy. A contradictory pattern is visible across all major destination countries: each continues to face genuine labour shortages in healthcare, technology, construction and elder care — the very sectors that African professionals disproportionately fill — while simultaneously increasing the cost and complexity of accessing those pathways. Ireland’s expansion of its Critical Skills Employment Permit and Canada’s five-category Express Entry revamp are responses to real shortages, not generosity. The tension between economic need and political appetite for restriction is unlikely to resolve quickly.
What’s Being Said
Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs formally urged the United States to reconsider its visa restrictions, calling on Washington to reverse the decision “in the spirit of partnership, cooperation and shared global responsibilities,” according to a statement signed by ministry spokesperson Imomotimi Ebienfa.
Former Nigerian senator Shehu Sani reacted to the US travel ban announcement in December 2025 by urging Nigerians to redirect their energy domestically. In a post on X, Sani described the US restrictions as “a clear signal that migrants from developing countries are no longer welcome” and called on Nigerians to “stay back and build your country.”
On the H-1B fee proposal, Newsweek reported that immigration and technology industry groups are preparing formal comment submissions in opposition. Adam Klein, former DHS official and co-founder of Globali.ai, warned that the proposed fee is structured in a way that could be legally challenged, arguing it goes well beyond recovering the administrative costs of H-1B adjudication.
Fortune’s analysis of DHS’s own modelling found that the $103,265 fee, if enacted, would also affect universities by discouraging international students. As one economist quoted in the report observed: “If students no longer believe an H-1B is realistically available at the end of this path, doing a US degree becomes much less appealing — and that has big implications for firms too, because that’s been a pipeline they’ve been very reliant on.”
Travel industry stakeholders in Nigeria reported that US-Nigerian air passenger volumes fell significantly in early 2026 following the January visa restrictions, with one industry report describing the situation as the beginning of a sustained decline in travel between the two countries.
What’s Next
- The US Department of Homeland Security’s proposed $103,265 H-1B fee is open for public comment for 30 days from August 24. If finalised without legal challenge, employers will face six-figure costs per skilled foreign hire — though legal challenges from trade groups and technology companies are widely expected.
- Japan’s new residency fee structure takes effect October 1, 2026. Foreign nationals currently residing in Japan who are eligible for permanent residency have until September 30 to submit applications at the current ¥10,000 fee before the 20-fold increase to ¥200,000 kicks in.
- Quebec’s reopened PEQ pathway accepts applications until October 31 for the first intake, offering an accessible route for temporary residents and international graduates who qualify under the programme’s French-language and work-experience criteria.
- The UK Migration Advisory Committee’s recommendation to lower salary thresholds for some sponsored occupations remains under government review. A formal government response is expected in the fourth quarter of 2026, which could expand or narrow skilled-worker eligibility depending on the political direction taken.
Bottom Line
The Bottom Line: The 2026 immigration landscape has shifted decisively against Nigerian and African migrants across the most sought-after destinations. What were once parallel challenges — US visa restrictions, rising UK fees, Canadian pathway closures — have converged into a simultaneous tightening across nearly every major corridor at once, placing Nigerians in the most constrained outbound migration environment in a generation. The countries imposing these barriers continue to face the labour shortages that African professionals have historically helped fill; the contradiction between economic need and restrictive policy is now a structural feature of global immigration, not a temporary adjustment.
