The United States Mission in Nigeria has denied a new media report that it has placed a ban on issuing student visas to Nigerians.
The report on a blog last week had claimed that the American immigration office had effectively halted issuing student visas to Nigerians “until further notice”.
It claimed the decision was a new measure to impose visa restrictions on countries whose citizens have a track record of overstaying beyond the validity of their short-term US visas.
But the US Mission has denied the claim on Monday, 17th June, 2019 in a tweet on its twitter handle describing the report as fake news.
#FakeNews Alert! Be advised, reports of Student Visa ban for Nigerians is false. If you have seen such manufactured item on Facebook and Twitter or received it via WhatsApp, please communicate that it is false. pic.twitter.com/1EvoiST6ak
— U.S. Mission Nigeria (@USEmbassyAbuja) June 17, 2019
“#FakeNews Alert! Be advised, reports of Student Visa ban for Nigerians is false. If you have seen such manufactured item on Facebook and Twitter or received it via WhatsApp, please communicate that it is false,” the Mission said.
EduCeleb.com however recalls that the Mission indefinitely suspended the visa interview waiver for those renewing visas in the country in May.
Before the suspension, Nigerian holders of US visa types B1/B2, F, H, and L could renew their visas online by processing it through DHL using one of several dropbox locations across Nigeria without attending physical interviews.
While the new measure is said to be an attempt to provide more efficient customer service and promote legitimate travel, many believe it is a measure by President Donald Trump’s administration to clamp down on immigration.
Nigeria leads in the number of international students of African descent in American higher institutions over the recent years. Citizens of the country are also said to be among those who overstay in America with 29,723 of them recorded in 2018 alone, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
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