U.S To Commence No-Interview Visa Renewal For Nigerians

The United States Embassy in Nigeria on Tuesday stated that it’s expanding its services to aid qualified nonimmigrant visa applicants.

It said that it initiated a visa interview waiver programme with the pilot project kicking off at the US Consulate in Lagos for applicants.

While speaking at a press conference on Tuesday at the US Consulate in Lagos, the US Mission Country Consular Coordinator, Susan Tuller, noted that the project was no-interview visa renewals.

Tuller added that it would be limited initially and applied only to applicants for academic exchange, work, study and tourist visas seeking renewal.

According to her, every eligible applicant must have an earlier visa that has expired within the last 24 months or will expire in the next three months from the date of application.

She said, “This is not a non-immigrant visa interview waiver process known as the ‘dropbox.’ The new application procedure will begin in February at the U.S. Consulate in Lagos and will be extended shortly thereafter to the U.S. Embassy in Abuja. The number of qualified applicants who can apply using the new procedures will be limited initially. Applicants who meet the criteria may apply in Lagos until the service is extended to Abuja.”

She added that the ‘drop box’ system didn’t achieve its intended goals because it was deep with “fraud, high overstay rates” whereas the consular unit targeted strengthening “border security, productivity and customer service.”

On Tuesday, May 14, 2019, the embassy indefinitely suspended interview waivers for renewals, also called the ‘Dropbox’ process.

It made it a rule then that applicants in Nigeria seeking a non-immigrant visa to the US must apply online and would need to appear in person at the US Embassy in Abuja or US Consulate General in Lagos to submit their application for review.