US increases tourism visa cost to N99, 900 for Nigerians, blames Buhari’s government

The United States Embassy in Nigeria says effective from Thursday, August 29, 2019, Nigerians applying for tourism, student and business visas will not only pay the N59, 200 fee but will have to pay an extra $110 (N40, 700) after the visa has been issued to them bringing the total cost to N99, 900.

However, applicants who are denied visas would not need to pay the extra N40, 700.

Applicants seeking the L1 Visa (work permit) will pay an extra N112, 100 if given visas while those applying for H4 Visa (dependency/spousal) will pay an extra N66, 600.

The US Embassy adopts the rate of N370/$1 for Nigerians which is higher than both the official rate and the black market rate.

The increment also comes amid complaints from hundreds of Nigerian visa applicants that they had not been able to secure US visa appointment dates despite making payments for visas.

The embassy said in a statement that the increment was done based on reciprocity.

It lamented that Americans were paying too much to secure Nigerian visas and thus the US government decided to retaliate.

The US embassy said it had been holding talks with the Nigerian government to reduce the fee but the Federal Government refused to accede to its requests.

The directive comes less than four months after the US cancelled the drop box system for Nigerian visa applicants which used to allow Nigerians who have a travel history to the US to apply for visas without going for interviews at the embassy.

– Punch