New Telegraph

U.S. to prioritise student visa applications appointments

The U.S. Mission has expressed readiness to prioritise student visa applicants and ensure that Nigerian students resuming for this Fall are given accelerated visa interview appointments well in advance of the commencement date of their programmes. U.S. Mission Country Consular Coordinator, Susan Tuller, who disclosed this, said that the United State Embassy in Abuja and Consulate General in Lagos would make every effort in order to assist student visa applicants in a timely fashion while keeping personnel and customers safe.

 

She said: “As we continue to prioritise the health and safety of our staff and customers, processing student visas remains a high priority for the U.S. Mission in Nigeria. We will increase the number of student visa appointments in May and June to ensure that we can offer appointments to as many students as possible. If your U.S. studies are scheduled to begin this Fall, we encourage you to schedule your appointment as quickly as possible.”

 

Tuller further explained that all student visa appointments must be booked through the U.S. Travel Docs website at www.ustraveldocs.com/ng/, and warned applicants against the use of third-party services, including touts and fixers, who broker visa appointments.

 

According to her, agents or third parties often seek to benefit by charging a fee for their services  and they may not always provide the correct information, which can harm an applicant’s chances of qualifying for the visa.

 

The Country Consular Coordinator, added: “Both Nigeria and the United States benefit when Nigerian students study at one of our world-class educational institutions. To prepare for your U.S. educational opportunity, we encourage you to check out EducationUSA Advising Centres at our American Spaces in Abuja, Lagos, Ibadan, and Calabar, or at educationUSA. state.gov.”

 

Tuller, who recalled that more Nigeria students attend American colleges and universities than any other country in Africa, placed Nigeria as the 11th largest source worldwide of international students to the United States.

 

According to her, in the 2019/2020 academic year, Nigeria has a record-breaking of nearly 14,000 students pursuing graduate and undergraduate degrees in the United States.

 

Over the last 21 years, the EducationUSA Advising Centres in Nigeria have directly contributed to an increase in the number of highly qualified Nigerian applicants to U.S. institutions, with advisees of EducationUSA services receiving scholarships worth $28 million in 2020. She, however, added that additional information on U.S. travel and student visas would be available at travel.state.gov or ng.usembassy.gov

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