The United States of America Consulate in Nigeria announced this in a statement issued earlier today.
In a declaration, the United States Consulate in Nigeria explained that the additional cost will apply to only those whose visa requests were approved. The revised visa application reciprocity schedule for Nigerian nationals published by the United States Consulate in Nigeria states that “Effective worldwide on 29 August, Nigerian citizens will be required to pay a visa issuance fee, or reciprocity fee, for all approved applications for non-immigrant visas in B, F, H1B, I, L, and R visa classifications,”.
“The reciprocity fee will be charged in addition to the non-immigrant visa application fee, also known as the MRV fee, which all applicants pay at the time of application. On the other hand, Nigerian nationals whose applications for a non-immigrant visa are refused will not be required to pay the new reciprocity fee.
“Both reciprocity and MRV fees are non-refundable, and their amounts vary based on visa classification.”
The statement also explained that the increase in the fee is based on a similar treatment afforded to US citizens by foreign governments, in this case, the Nigerian government.
As stated in the declaration, “Visa issuance fees are implemented under the principle of reciprocity: when a foreign government imposes additional visa fees on U.S. citizens, the United States will impose reciprocal fees on citizens of that country for similar types of visas,” the statement read.
“Nationals of several countries worldwide are currently required to pay this type of fee after their nonimmigrant visa application is approved.
“The total cost for a U.S. citizen to obtain a visa to Nigeria is currently higher than the total cost for a Nigerian to obtain a comparable visa to the United States. The new reciprocity fee for Nigerian citizens is meant to eliminate that cost difference.”
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