The United States Mission has clarified President Joe
Biden’s cancellation of the travel ban on Nigerians.
The Embassy said speculations that the reversal meant all
Nigerians denied a visa, since January 2020 can re-apply, were incorrect.
On January 20, 2021, Biden signed a Presidential
Proclamation titled “Ending Discriminatory Bans on Entry to the United States.”
The action ended the Donald Trump administration’s travel
restrictions under Presidential Proclamations 9645 and 9983.
The citizens of Burma, Eritrea, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Libya,
Nigeria, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Venezuela, and Yemen
were banned from immigrant visa categories.
In a statement, the U.S. confirmed that it’s Consulate
General in Lagos has contacted all immigrant visa applicants whose applications
were affected and is prioritizing the processing of these pending cases.
“Recent media reports claiming “Nigerians denied visas on or
after January 20, 2020, can re-apply for free” are inaccurate”, it said
“The Proclamation announcement applies only to certain
immigrant visa cases, and does not apply to tourist, business, student, or
other nonimmigrant visas.”
The Mission added that the Consular Sections in Abuja and
Lagos are gradually restoring routine visa operations in accordance with
COVID-19 safety mitigation protocols.
The statement announced that the validity of nonimmigrant
visa payments (known as the MRV fee) has been extended until September 30,
2022.
This affords all applicants who were unable to schedule a
visa appointment as a result of the suspension of routine consular operations
an opportunity to schedule and/or attend a visa appointment with the already
paid fee.
The Mission said nonimmigrant visa applicants who were
previously refused and would like to apply again will need to submit a new visa
application (DS-160) and pay a new visa application processing.
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