For Nigerians planning to
travel to the United States, the visa application process has changed, an
official said on Tuesday.
Stacie
R. Hankins, the Consular Chief at the American Embassy in Nigeria who addressed
journalists simultaneously at a briefing in Abuja and Lagos said a new passport
collection centre has opened in Port Harcourt.
“The
U.S. Mission is pleased to announce that as of 8 November, our document
collection and distribution partners with DHL expanded to include a new
location in Port Harcourt,” Hankins said.
As
it is the case with DHL locations in Lagos and Abuja, visa applicants with
approved applications can now collect their passports with their visas from the
DHL collection centre in Port Harcourt.
“Applicants
will have the option of selecting any one of the three sites as their pickup
location when they complete their online application,” Hankins said.
Similarly,
she said, applicants who qualify for the drop box renewal programme can submit
their passports and applications to the Port Harcourt DHL collection centre.
However,
processing time for the collection centre in Port Harcourt will take an
additional day.
Passports
are generally available for pick up from the Abuja collection centre in two
days. In Port Harcourt, it will take three days, she said.
Non-immigrant
visa applicants were also reminded that when making an interview appointment,
they must include the correct confirmation number from their DS-160 online
application form as part of the required information.
“Beginning
December 1, those applicants who fail to comply with these instructions will
not be allowed to interviews. We believe this change will make application
processing faster and more efficient,” said Hankins who has been serving as the
Consular Chief in Abuja since August this year.
She
said the Embassy approved majority of visa applications made by Nigerians in
the last two years.
Hankins
said 65 percent of non-immigrant visa applications received last year were
approved.
“Between
October 1, 2012, and September 30, 2013, the Embassy in Abuja and Consulate in
Lagos received more than 182,000 non-immigrant visa apolications, the majority
of which were approved . Between October 1, 2013, and September 30, 2014, we
received more than 220,000 applications. Again, the majority of those
applications were approved,” she said.
An
official at the U.S. Consulate in Lagos disclosed at the briefing that last
year 15500 immigrant applications were received and 14900 were approved.
She
dismissed long held insinuations that the American Government uses a quota
system to grant or deny visas to Nigerians, saying simply that there is nothing
like quota.
She
said visas are granted or denied based on Section 214B Immigration and
Nationality Act.
For
non-immigrant visas, she said, applicants must prove that they have enough
funding to support themselves in the United States and would voluntarily return
at the end of their stay.
In
the event of a visa refusal, it is advised an applicant re-applies 90 days
after except there have been substantial changes in their circumstances, she
said.
“We
hope that Nigerians’desire to visit our beautiful country will continue to
grow, and we look forward to working its our partners to allow qualified
tourists and business travellers to do so,” Hankins said.
9ce decision in d right direction
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