THE Federal Government has vowed to introduce a reciprocal measure in response to the new US visa policy requiring Nigerian applicants to provide details of their social media accounts and activities from the previous five years as part of the application process.
The ICIR reports that the US Mission on Monday, August 18, said that Nigerian visa applicants must submit a detailed list of their social media accounts on the DS-160 visa application form.
It cautioned that failure to provide the information could result in visa denial and possible disqualification from future U.S. visa applications.
“Visa applicants are required to list all social media usernames or handles of every platform they have used from the last 5 years on the DS-160 visa application form.
“Applicants certify that the information in their visa application is true and correct before they sign and submit. Omitting social media information could lead to visa denial and ineligibility for future visas.” the US Mission said.
Responding to the development on Monday, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Kimiebi Ebienfa, said the ministry was aware of the policy, having been briefed in advance by the US Mission in Nigeria.
He, however, noted that the Federal Government would implement a reciprocal policy, emphasising that US citizens seeking entry into Nigeria would be required to undergo the same procedure.
“So, on things of this nature, the best we can do is to carry out reciprocal action. Some people from the US might want to apply for a visa, and we will adopt the same measures.
‘’I think that’s what the government might do because anything visa is reciprocal. What you are mandating our nationals to do, we will also mandate your citizens applying for our visa to do,’’ he said.
He added that the Federal Government would hold an inter-agency meeting to determine the most appropriate response to the new visa policy.
Ebienfa further explained that the government would hold a joint meeting involving the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Interior, and the National Intelligence Agency.
“So, the stakeholders that are involved will have a meeting and agree on our best way to respond to it holistically.”
In July, The ICIR reported that the United States Department of State announced that non-immigrant visas issued to Nigerian citizens would be limited to single entry and would be valid for only three months.
The ICIR reported that Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) advised Nigerians to strictly use their US visas for the purposes stated in their applications.
The warning was issued in response to concerns from the US government regarding visa misuse by some Nigerian citizens.
Nanji is an investigative journalist with the ICIR. She has years of experience in reporting and broadcasting human angle stories, gender inequalities, minority stories, and human rights issues. She has documented sexual war crimes in armed conflict, sex for grades in Nigerian Universities, harmful traditional practices and human trafficking.
That is the best option and nothing less.