Monday, September 2, 2019
According to a press release issued by the U.S. Embassy and Consulate in Nigeria on August 27, President Donald Trump’s administration has imposed a visa issuance fee for every approved nonimmigrant visa application submitted by Nigerians.
On top of the existing nonimmigrant visa application fee (MRV fee) the issuance fee also known as the reciprocity fee will be required to be paid. This is to be paid by the applicants at the time of registration. As per the new release both reciprocity and MRV fees are non-refundable and the rates at which the reciprocity fees start range from $80 to $ 303 depending on the class.
According to the U.S. Embassy the Nigerian visa applicants already pay between $160 and $265 for U.S. visitor visas.
From August 29 the new requirement went into effect.After failed talks between the U.S and Nigerian government that started in 2018 the new fees imposed on visa-seeking Nigerian came into effect.
During the discussion the U.S. government asked that the government in Nigeria change the fees U.S. citizens were charged for certain categories of visas according to the U.S. Embassy.
It was found that the until now it costed more for a U.S. citizen to obtain a visa to Nigeria as compared to a Nigerian willing to get a similar visa to the U.S.
The reciprocity fees being imposed on the Nigerian citizens is intended to eradicate the difference in cost between the comparative visas.
An executive order also known as the Muslim ban or the travel ban imposed on seven predominant Muslim countries like Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen led to more stringent reciprocity terms started to be advocated for two years ago.
The ban also put the Secretary of State in charge of reviewing “all non-immigrant visa reciprocrity agreements” concerning the validity period and application fees.
As per the order ‘if a country does not treat United States nationals seeking nonimmigrant visas in a reciprocal manner, the Secretary of State shall adjust the visa validity period, fee schedule, or other treatment to match the treatment of United States nationals by the foreign country, to the extent practicable’.
The order stated that “if a country does not treat United States nationals seeking nonimmigrant visas in a reciprocal manner, the Secretary of State shall adjust the visa validity period, fee schedule, or other treatment to match the treatment of United States nationals by the foreign country, to the extent practicable.”
Although Nigeria was not named in the ban the country had urged its citizens not to travel to the United States unless the trip is an urgent one at that point of time. However the advisory was issued by the government based on the reported problems that the Nigerians faced while entering into the U.S. despite having valid visas.
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