By Mark Longyen
The United States (U.S.) Government has announced the review of its reciprocal non-immigrant visa policy for Nigeria and other countries.
This is contained in a statement issued by the Embassy, made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja.
Titled, “Revised Visa Reciprocity for Nigeria”, the statement explained that the visa policy review, would impact several countries, including Nigeria, and would take effect immediately.
“Effective immediately, most non-immigrant and non-diplomatic visas issued to citizens of Nigeria will be single-entry visas with a three-month validity period.
“Those U.S. non-immigrant visas issued prior to July 8, 2025, will retain their status and validity.
“We wish to underscore, that as is standard globally, visa reciprocity is a continuous process, and is subject to review and change at any time, such as increasing or decreasing permitted entries and duration of validity,” it said.
It further explained that U.S. visa criteria and standards were designed to protect the integrity of U.S. immigration systems, and the standards were based on global technical and security benchmarks.
The embassy urged prospective U.S. visa applicants to view the latest information on visa reciprocity schedules for all countries at travel.state.gov.
It also said that the U.S. Mission was already working with the Federal Government of Nigeria to ensure that Nigeria met the standard criteria, which it enumerated below.
The first standard criteria, the government said, is the “Secure Travel Documents”, by which individual countries are required to issue secure travel documents with verified traveler identities.
Another standard criteria is that of “Visa Overstay Management”, which requires the implementation of measures to limit overstays by travelers on U.S. visas.
It also listed “Information Sharing” as one of the standard criteria, which required the sharing of relevant security and/or criminal record information to protect public safety.
“The United States values its longstanding relationship with Nigeria, and remains committed to expanding our partnership based on mutual respect, shared security priorities, and economic opportunity, keeping both our countries safer and stronger.
“We commend the ongoing efforts by the Government of Nigeria’s immigration and security agencies to meet standards of international best practices.
“We continue to engage with Nigerian government officials to address the remaining challenges,” it said.
The U.S. Government, therefore, encouraged Nigerian travelers to respect and adhere to the terms of their visas, and ensure travel documents are authentic, accurate, and up to date.
It assured that United States would remain a committed partner in deepening people-to-people ties with Nigeria via business, educational, and cultural exchanges.
“We look forward to continued cooperation at all levels with the Nigerian public and government officials to ensure safe and lawful travel between the United States and all countries,” the statement added.(NAN)
Edited by Maureen Atuonwu
