By Abiola Olawale
The United States Department of State has revised its non-immigrant visa policy for Nigerian citizens, effective July 8, 2025.
This develomemt has elicited some concerns, with a retired career diplomat urging President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to quickly take steps to correct what he described as “inappropriate step toward Africa’s most populous country”.
The retired Envoy who urged Tinubu to name Ambassadors as quickly as possible said the international community, starting with the United States may be responding to non-representation in their countries at the level of Ambassadors and substantive Heads of Missions.
According to theretired Career envoy, if Ambassadors are in host countries, including in the United States, ” situation like this could have been negotiated and avoided because the Ambassador is the authority vested with the mandate to engage at the highest level of government, which is unlike a charge de affairs ad interim, who cannot engage.”
He said:” A Charge de affairs ad interim merely holds post pending the arrival of an Ambassador because his/her role is very, very limited. Hence he/she is called a charge de affairs at interim. ”
The US Department of State had rolled out this new visa policy that would ensure that non-immigrant and non-diplomatic visas issued to Nigerians will now be restricted to single-entry permits with a validity period of just three months.
This marks a serious departure from the previous policy, which allowed multiple-entry visas valid for up to five years.
The change, announced by the US Embassy in Abuja, however, cited visa reciprocity as the primary reason for the new restrictions, noting that Nigeria issues single-entry, three-month visas to American citizens.
The statement reads in part: “Effective immediately, most non-immigrant and non-diplomatic visas issued to citizens of Nigeria will be single-entry visas with a three-month validity period.”
However, the mission said that US non-immigrant visas issued before July 8, 2025, would retain their status and validity.
“We wish to underscore that, as is standard globally, visa reciprocity is a continuous process and is subject to review and change at any time, such as increasing or decreasing permitted entries and duration of validity.
“These standards are based on global technical and security benchmarks. The U.S. Mission is working with the Government of Nigeria to ensure that Nigeria can meet the criteria.
“The United States values its longstanding relationship with Nigeria and remains committed to expanding our partnership based on mutual respect, shared security priorities, and economic opportunity, keeping both our countries safer and stronger.
“We commend the ongoing efforts by the Government of Nigeria’s immigration and security agencies to meet standards of international best practices. We continue to engage with Nigerian government officials to address the remaining challenges,” the statement added.
