…The new requirement says: ”effective immediately,” nonimmigrant visa applicants should schedule an interview at their local U.S embassy, and the applicant must demonstrate residence in the country where the are applying.
MON SEPT 08 2025-theGBJournal| The U.S. State Department has announced a fresh hurdle for foreign visitors seeking tourist visas, which analysts say will further hurt the already struggling U.S. tourism industry as well as make the already-long visa wait times even longer, especially for Diaspora Nigerians.
The U.S. Mission Nigeria posted the new visa requirements which applies to short-term visas for tourists as well as business travelers, students and temporary workers, on their X handle on Monday but was announced by the U.S. State Department on Saturday.
The new requirement says: ”effective immediately,” nonimmigrant visa applicants should schedule an interview at their local U.S embassy, and the applicant must demonstrate residence in the country where the are applying.
The U.S State Department warned that applicants who schedule interviews at a U.S Embassy or Consulate outside of their country of nationality or residence ”might find that it will be more difficult to qualify for visa.”
It adds that in such situation, application fees will not be refunded and cannot be transferred.
In early August, the State Department made it compulsory for all applicants from Nigeria to list all social media usernames or handles of every platform that have used from the last 5 years on the DS-160 visa application form.
It equally warned that ”omitting social media information could lead to visa denial and ineligibility for future visas,” a requirement that raised serious questions on applicants privacy.
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