The United States lowered the fee paid by Nigerian citizens to obtain a visa after it announced the removal of reciprocity fees for Nigerians more than a year after the West African country implemented a similar move.
“The U.S. Mission to Nigeria is pleased to announce the elimination of visa reciprocity fees, effective immediately. We thank @GovNigeria for its partnership in eliminating these reciprocity fees,” the U.S. Mission to Nigeria tweeted.
“Visa application fees remain at $160,” it added.
The fee, also known as the visa issuance fee, is charged in addition to the nonimmigrant visa application fee.
The US government had imposed the reciprocity fee in August last year after Nigeria failed to change its fee structure for US citizen visa applicants despite engagements on the same since early 2018.
However, shortly after that action, Nigeria lowered the fee paid by US citizens to obtain a visa in line with the government’s reciprocity policy following a recommendation by a committee.
The Nigerian government now required American citizens to pay $160 (currently just over 60,000 Nigerian Naira) down from $180 (about 68,500 Nigerian Naira).
Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the announcement as a “positive development”, adding that the removal of the fee came into effect from December 3.
It also clarified that the removal of the reciprocity fee did not mean that Nigerians applying for a visa to the U.S. would now not pay any visa fees.
By David Ochieng Mbewa
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