The Chargé d’Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria, Mr David Greene, disclosed on Sunday that the embassy has interviewed over 150,000 Nigerians for US visas, in addition to 30,000 student visa applicants.
Greene, who stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja, said the mission remained committed to tackling all visa-related bottlenecks.
He said, “When it comes to visas specifically, well of course it is a simple fact, the demand for visa appointments outnumbers the supply.
“So, those appointments are available and we are doing everything we can to address that gap. What folks do not know is that this year we have interviewed more than 150,000 Nigerians.
“This is in addition to 30,000 students. Hundreds of thousands of students have had the opportunity to seek visas from the U.S.
“We are doing the best we can to get proper ways for all the categories and after having an enormous backlog as a result of COVID-19, and all that.
“We have made great progress though. In March we instituted a five-year term for visas to the U.S.”
He urged persons desiring to travel to the U.S. to apply early and ensure that the visa requests were tied to events.
“Folks that are seeking visas should apply early, make sure that the plan is for an event as they can.
“This is because we do acknowledge that there is a backlog and we will do what we can to make sure people who need a warrant visa to the U.S. can get them,” he said.