“Another important change affects Nigerians who previously tried to escape the long Nigeria appointment queue or a near appointment calendar by applying in other countries. This has been shut down. You know sometimes when people want to apply for a US visa, they will go to Dubai for instance to apply. Now the US said No, the State Department current instruction is that non-immigrant visa applicants should generally schedule their interview in the country of nationality or residence. It means if you’re going to take your country of residence, you must have a residence permit. So, interviews are back at the centre of the process. So, the US has also significantly narrowed interview waiver eligibility – Interviews are now back.

“From October 1st 2025, most non-immigrant visa applicants including applicants younger than 14 and older than 17 are generally required to have an in-person interview unless they fall into specific exceptions. One important exception remains for some people renewing their BI/B2 visa within 12 months of expiration provided the previous visa was issued at full validity and the applicant was at least 18 when it was issued and other eligibility requirements are satisfied. Even then a consular officer retains the discretion to demand an interview. In other words, age alone no longer provides broad interview exemption,” Asuquo said.

Abuja Routine Visa Service Realigned To Lagos

“There has been a major operational development that has received less public attention. With effect from August 1, 2026, the US Department re-organised the routine visa processing across Africa into regional hubs. Abuja was among the posts whose routine visa services were realigned. Lagos was named one of the designated regional visa hubs.

“This does not mean the US visa embassy in Abuja has closed, the US state department specifically says that the realignment does not change the operative status of the affected embassy, it is the location of routine visa processing that has actually been reorganized,” Asuquo explained.

Why Nigeria Matters To The United States – The Numbers

Nigeria is not a marginal visa market for the US. The US State Department statistics shows that approximately 87,279 non-immigrants visas were issued to Nigerian nationals in the year 2024.

According to the travel expert, the numbers illustrate a demand. “In May 2024 alone, Nigerian nationals received 5,769 D1/D2 visas, 891 F1 students’ visas, and 471 J1 Exchange visas. By July 2024, B1/B2 issuance in Nigeria had reached over 7,000 in a single month alongside the over 1000 student visas. In April 2025 before the later restriction took full effect, the US issued 4037 B1/B2 visas to Nigerian nationals in that month alone.

“If in 2024 over 87,000 were given visas, multiply it by $185 which is the visa fee and that is $16,095,000. Now let’s do the exchange rate at N1, 400 that is N22.5billion. Now, this is for those granted visas, imagine the numbers that applied in a month – rough it up to 20,000 applicants in a month at least. Don’t forget, prior to the recent realignment it was Lagos and Abuja. So, imagine how much Lagos and Abuja was making, and that is capital flight because payment of visa fee results in an appointment. If they tell you, you’re not going to the US there is nothing you can do as payment of visa fee is nonrefundable.”

US Federal Court Intervention

Separate from the presidential restrictions, the US Department of State had from January 21, 2026 paused immigrant visa issuance for nationals of 75 countries including Nigeria under a policy focus on applicants considered a greater risk of relying on US public benefits.

However, on August 21, a US District Judge, Jeannette Vargas of the Southern District of New York stuck down the State Department policy enacted in January 2026 that suspended immigrant visa processing for nationals from 75 countries over public charge concerns and ruled that the blanket, nationality-based immigrant visa freeze on 75 countries including Nigeria was patently unlawful and exceeded Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s statutory authority under Immigration and Nationality Act.

Remarking on this, Asuquo said: “The ruling also set aside refusal based solely on the policy. For Nigerian families caught in the migration visa process, that was potentially significant and must not be overstated as the judge did not erase every US visa restriction affecting Nigeria.

“Most importantly, the separate restriction imposed under presidential proclamation 10998 remains a distinct legal regime. So, the court decision concerned the State Department’s additional 75-country immigrant visa pause. A Federal Court only struck down one major nationality-based immigrant visa suspension. So, the US Government could also appeal thus, this is an area that requires close monitoring.”

Fundamentals Of Nigeria/US Visa Policy Inequity

numbers tell part of the stories: five years visa to three years, multiple visa entry to single entry; visa bond can reach $15,000; a 75-country immigrant pause was introduced and now has been struck down by a Federal Judge; Abuja routine processes role has been shifted to Lagos and now Lagos has become a regional hub.

For Asuquo, this is not one policy change, it is fundamental restructuring of the environments in which Nigerians apply to travel to the US and because litigation, presidential proclamations, State Department policies are still evolving. “Perhaps the most important advice for Nigerian travellers in 2026 is: do not rely on what happened to someone who applied last year or even several months ago. The rules have changed too quickly for yesterday’s US visa experience to be a reliable guide to today’s application.” (The Guardian)