US Announces New Procedure for Visa Renewal

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The United States Consulate General in Lagos has announced a procedure for visa renewal in Nigeria as contained in its DHL Drop Box Visa Renewal Programme.

According to a statement made available to THISDAY yesterday, the consulate stated that the programme would allow certain visa applicants, who had previously been issued US visas to renew their visas without attending an interview.

It said to qualify for the DHL Drop Box Visa Renewal Programme, visa applicants must satisfy specific criteria and that if applying as a group or family, all members must fulfil each criteria to use the programme.

The Consulate General explained further that to qualify for the programme, the applicant must be holding a Nigerian passport.

Others include: "the applicant’s last visa interview resulted in an issuance; the applicant was issued a two-year B1/B2 United States visa in Lagos or Abuja; the visa expired no more than one year prior to reissuance; the applicant was at least 14 years old at the time of the last issuance or will be under the age of 14 at the time of reissuance and the applicant has never been arrested nor had an encounter with law enforcement, customs, or immigration officials in the United States.”

It added that those who satisfy these criteria should follow the visa application instructions on the US Embassy Nigeria website http://nigeria.usembassy.gov/niv_appointmnent_instructions.html, saying the ‘CGI visa appointment website would ask applicants a series of questions reflecting the criteria for the DHL Drop Box Visa Renewal Programme’.

It explained also that qualifying applicants will be prompted to print a letter confirming their eligibility for the programme and instructing them to drop off the letter with their passport, application confirmation sheet, passport photos and visa fee receipt to one of the DHL facilities in Lagos with the application packets being adjudicated and returned to the applicant’s selected DHL location within 7-10 business days.