The federal government of Nigeria has reduced the fee payable by citizens of the United States applying for Nigerian visas. The development came just 24 hours after the US government increased visa fee for Nigerians as a response to the high fee previously charged by the Nigerian authorities for American citizens.
The reduction in the fee was made known in a statement obtained Wednesday, August 28, by Mohammed Manga, the spokesman of the ministry of interior.
“The attention of the ministry of Interior has been drawn to the introduction of reciprocity of Visa Fees by the United States of America. The ministry acknowledges that there were engagements with the United States embassy on the issue and in the aftermath, a committee was set up to conduct due diligence in line with the ministry’s extant policy on reciprocity of visa fees,” the statement read.
The statement also further said that after due consideration by the committee in charge of the visa issuance, the minister of the ministry, Rauf Aregbesola, gave approval for the fee reduction.
“The committee had concluded its assignment and submitted a report but the issuance of authorisation for its recommendations was delayed due to transition processes in the ministry at the policy level.
“The honourable minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has approved the decrease of visa charges payable by US citizens in line with reciprocity policy as recommended by the committee,” it added.
It also said that the Nigeria Immigration Service has therefore been directed to make the reduction effected as from Thursday, August 29.
“Accordingly, the comptroller-general of Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Muhammad Babandede, has been directed to implement the decrease in Nigeria’s visa charges to US citizens to USD 160 with effect from Thursday, 29th August, 2019.” it said.
