Abuja – The U.S. Mission in Nigeria says that no fewer than 220,000 Nigerians applied for non-immigrant visas in 2014.
The Chief Consular Officer of the U.S. Embassy, Ms Stacie Hankins, made this known at a media tour in Abuja on Wednesday.
Hankins said its Consular Section approved 66 per cent of tourist visa applications.
She explained that two in every three applicants were successful, adding refusal of visa applications and failure to make use of visa had no disadvantage on the applicants.
She also said the U.S. Mission received more than 138,578 applications for non-immigrant travel to the U.S. for the 2015 fiscal year, which started in October, 2014.
“Fiscal year 2014 ended Sept. 30, 2014 and Lagos and Abuja together processed about 220,000 non-immigrant visa applications.
“Fiscal year 2015 started Oct. 1, 2014 and from then till date, we’ve processed about 138,000 non-immigrant visa applications.
Hankins said the Abuja Consular Office processed about 400 visa applications everyday from Monday to Friday, while the Lagos Consulate office processed about 900 applications daily.
She said that cases of visa racketeering had been received while cases of fraudulent activities had been reported to the police, which had made arrests and detained the suspects.
The consular chief warned Nigerians against patronising visa racketeers, advising them to always provide the required information correctly while applying online.
According to her, those who are denied visas can re-apply after six months.
A successful visa applicant, Dr Iyke Mbaka, said some Nigerians were denied visas because they could not provide enough reasons why they wanted to travel to the U.S.
“You must show who you are, you must give reasons why you want to leave the country.
“Some people come to the embassy without having enough reasons to show why they want to travel to the U.S and you must identify yourself.
“You must have a means of livelihood and you must show evidence that when you leave this country, you are going to come back to this country,” Mbaka said.
Another applicant, Mrs Eucharia Joseph, who also had a successful interview, said she was able to prove that she had a source of livelihood, is a mother and an author.
However, a student, Miss Jennifer Samson, who was not successful, said she did not understand why she was denied visa.
“I told them about the school that I wanted to go and study but at the end of the day, I was denied visa,” she said.
Mr Kareem Oyedele, who was also not successful at the interview, said he had travelled to Switzerland, India and South Africa without any stress at the Embassy and High Commissions.
Oyedele, however, said that he would not apply for the visa any time soon as he did not want to go through such disappointment.
