By BUSAYO ONIJALA

The U.S. Mission has expanded the eligibility period for nonimmigrant visa renewals from 24 months to 48 months.

This was made known in a statement made available on Friday evening.

According to the mission, applicants whose previous U.S. visa expired within the last 48 months or will expire in the next 3 months may now qualify to renew their visa without an interview.

The mission noted in the statement that it was also opening thousands of visa renewal appointments to assist applicants who wished to renew their visas.

“You may be eligible for a visa renewal without an interview if your application is for a B1/B2, F, M, J (academic only), H, L or C1/D (combined only) visa, AND you meet each of the following criteria:

“Your previous visa was issued in Nigeria, your previous visa is in the same classification as your current application, your previous visa was a full validity, multiple entry visa.

“Your previous visa expired within the last 48 months or will expire in the next 3 months from the date of application, you have all your passports covering the entire period since receiving the previous visa and the passport with the most recent visa.

“You have never been arrested or convicted of any crime or offense in the United States, even if you later received a waiver or pardon, you have never worked without authorization or remained beyond your permitted time in the United States,” the statement read.

The mission noted that processing times for the programme were expected to be up to two months and applicants would not be able to retrieve their passports during that time.

“Each applicant must individually meet the criteria; minors can apply without an interview only if they meet the eligibility criteria on their own.”

It was further noted that third parties unaffiliated with the U.S. Embassy Abuja and Consulate General Lagos might seek to take advantage of various visa services to target visa applicants with fraudulent offers or claims.

The mission urged applicants to fill out their own forms and make their appointments themselves via the official websites.

“Please see our website at https://ng.usembassy.gov/visas/nonimmigrant-visas/ for further information.

“If you are qualified based on the above criteria, visit https://www.ustraveldocs.com/ng to start your application.” (NAN)

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