The United States Embassy in Nigeria says it will continue to charge Nigerians reciprocity fees because it has yet to receive any diplomatic communication regarding a new fee schedule for Americans seeking Nigerian visas.
A press release on Friday read in part, “The US Embassy looks forward to receiving official diplomatic communication regarding a new fee schedule for Americans seeking Nigerian visas. Until such time, and confirmation of implementation, the reciprocity fees for approved visas to the United States will remain in place.”
The US had on Tuesday said effective from Thursday, August 29, 2019, Nigerians applying for tourism, student and business visas will not only pay the N59, 200 fee but will have to pay an extra $110 (N40, 700) after the visa has been issued to them bringing the total cost to N99, 900.
However, applicants who are denied visas would not need to pay the extra N40, 700.
Applicants seeking the L1 Visa (work permit) will pay an extra N112, 100 if given visas while those applying for H4 Visa (dependency/spousal) will pay an extra N66, 600.
The embassy said in a statement that the increment was done based on reciprocity.
It lamented that Americans were paying too much to secure Nigerian visas and thus the US government decided to retaliate.
The US embassy said it had been holding talks with the Nigerian government to reduce the fee but the Federal Government refused to accede to its requests.
In a swift response on Wednesday, the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, said the Comptroller-General of Nigeria Immigration Service, Muhammad Babandede, had been directed to implement a decrease in the visa charges with effect from Thursday.
The fee was reduced from $180 to $160 for American citizens.
However, it was learnt that the US Government may still not be satisfied with the Federal Government’s move.
It was learnt that Americans still have to pay an additional $100 administration fee and $10 processing fee besides the $160 visa fee but the Nigerian Government made no mention of reducing or scrapping the additional fees in its press release.
Source: Punch
