The U.S. Embassy on Monday 27th of February disclosed in a statement in Abuja that Nigerians can stay in the United States on a tourist or business visa from 24 to 60 months.
This new policy is said to be effective from Wednesday, March 1, 2023. The Federal Government directed the implementation of a new visa reciprocity policy for citizens of the US with effect from March 1, 2023, following an approval for the kickstart of the new Bilateral Consular Policy Agreements between the US and Nigeria.
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The US Embassy stated that the visa validity extension would allow Nigerians to use the visa for 60 months to make short trips to the United States for tourism or business purposes before having to renew it.
According to Rauf Aregbesola, the agreements include the reciprocity of five-year tourist visa validity for American Citizens under Section 30 of the Immigration Act, 2015, and the Extension of visa validity to three years for diplomats and government officials between the citizens of Nigeria and the United States of America.
US mission said that despite the validity extension, the visa application fee which is currently USD160, will not increase as a result of the increased visa validity period and the mission will continue to offer No-Interview Visa Renewals to those who meet the eligibility criteria.
See Also: Visa Application Fees for Canada and the UK
Conditions for No-Interview Visa Renewal for Nigerians
On the No-Interview Visa Renewal policy, the Embassy stated that: “You may be eligible for a visa renewal without an interview if your application is for (academic only), H, L, or C1/D (combined only) visa, and you meet the criteria listed below:
- Your passports covering the entire period since receiving the previous visa and the passport with the most recent visa must be made available.
- You must be physically present in Nigeria
- Your previous visa was issued in Nigeria
- Your previous visa is in the same classification as your current application
- Your previous visa was a full-validity, multiple-entry visa.
- Your previous visa must have expired within the last 48 months or will expire in the next 3 months from the date of application.
- You should have zero criminal offense record in the United States.
- Nigerians temporarily traveling to the US on business and tourist grounds will enjoy this new visa policy.
Met the above criteria? Visit our Visa Application Page or use the Contact Us page to send us a message.
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