THE Federal Government on Wednesday has approved the reduction of visa charges payable by US citizens travelling to Nigeria.
The announcement comes after the United States increased the cost of visa application for Nigerians.
According to the earlier report by the consulate, Nigerians will be required to pay for all applications for nonimmigrant visas in B, F, H1B, I, L, and R visa classifications. However, the issuance or reciprocity fee is different from the application fees as this will be charged in addition to the nonimmigrant visa application fee.
However, the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola in a statement by the Director Press and Public Relations, Mohammed Manga, said that “the Ministry acknowledges that there were engagements with the United States Embassy on the issue and in the aftermath, a Committee was set up to conduct due diligence in line with the Ministry’s extant policy on reciprocity of Visa fees.
“The attention of the Ministry of Interior has been drawn to the introduction of reciprocity of Visa Fees by the United States of America.
“Accordingly, the Comptroller-General of Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Muhammad Babandede, has been directed to implement the decrease in Nigeria’s Visa charges to US Citizens to USD 150 with effect from Thursday, 29th August, 2019,” the statement concluded.
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Abeeb Alawiye formerly works with The ICIR as a Reporter/Social Media officer. Now work as a Senior Journalist with BBC News Yoruba. You can shoot him an email via Abeeb.alawiye@bbc.co.uk or follow him on Twitter @habsonfloww