Liberia Enlisted among 36 Countries Risk US Visa Restriction for Second-time

Monrovia, Liberia: U.S. President Donald Trump has placed Liberia on the list of thirty-six countries expected to have travel restrictions placed on them to the United States of America.

A confidential leaked statement believed to be issued by the State Department, according to The Washington Post, says the moves are triggered by visa overstays and widespread fraud in civil documents, including passports, birth certificates, national identification cards, marriage certificates, and others.

The granting of citizenship because of financial inducement is three of the key criteria for the pending visa restrictions against the 36 countries.

Regarding visa overstays of Liberians, the report shows that a huge number of Liberians travel to the US and overstay their visas.

US immigration data for 2022 show that Liberia's visiting visa overstay rate was 49%.

However, the 2023, 2024, and 2025 data are not yet available to determine if Liberia's overstay has increased or decreased.

In the case of Liberia, there are concerns of widespread fraud in civil documents referencing what happened to Liberia’s diplomatic passports between 2019 and 2023, where criminals on the American watchlist were in possession of Liberia’s diplomatic passbook.

Nonetheless, since the ascendency of President Joseph Nyuma Boakai in January 2024, there has been no known report of Liberia’s diplomatic passports being in the hands of criminals.

The question now remains: can the government of Liberia assure the US government that Liberia has removed widespread fraud from the issuance of civil documents?