Federal Govt disputes US visa policy reciprocity claim

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar, has refuted the U.S. embassy’s assertion that its new visa policy is based on reciprocity.

Tuggar described the explanation as “inaccurate,” highlighting the discrepancy in visa offerings between the two nations.

According to Tuggar, Nigeria grants American citizens five-year multiple-entry visas, demonstrating a more liberal approach to entry.

He further clarified that Nigeria’s recent introduction of electronic visas (e-visas) was designed to boost efficiency in the application process, rather than to impose restrictions on access for U.S. citizens.

Tuggar said:

“We are talking to the Americans. We are engaging them. We are also explaining and reminding them that we issue them five-year multiple entry visas, the same way that they issue regular travellers five-year multiple entry visas.

“What Nigeria has done that differs is simple. We used to have a visa-on-arrival that wasn’t running efficiently. We introduced these online electronic visas that you can apply for so that it saves you time, instead of just arriving and then going through the process of getting the visa when you have already arrived.

“We have different categories of visas. There are people who are first-time travellers who are coming as tourists that are probably not likely to come back to Nigeria again, maybe because they’re coming for a short while, and they get those 90-day visas,” Tuggar added.

“So our visa is not saying that every American is only being given 90-day visas or three months or whatever. We give Americans—there are loads of Americans that have these long-term visas. It is not based on reciprocity.

“The issue of accepting Venezuelan deportees, honestly, I don’t think is something that Nigeria is in a position to work with. And I think it would be unfair to insist that Nigeria accepts 300 Venezuelan deportees. Maybe that might just even be the beginning.” [CONTINUE READING HERE]>>>>