The United States (U.S.) Embassy has began interview waiver for certain non-immigrant visa renewal applications.
A statement from the U.S. Embassy in Abuja on Wednesday said beginning from
March 30, 2022, it will begin processing certain non-immigrant visa renewal applications without requiring an interview where:
The visa is B1/B2, F, M, J (academic only), H, L, or C1/D (combined only);
The applicant previously received a U.S. non-immigrant visa that expired within the last 24 months, or will expire in the next three months from the date of application;
The previous visa was issued in Nigeria;
The previous visa was a full validity, multiple entry visa;
The applicant is applying for the same visa classification as the prior approved visa;
The applicant has never been arrested or convicted of any crime in the United States (even if they later received a pardon or waiver);
The applicant has never worked without authorisation or overstayed in the United States; and
The applicant has not had any significant life changes.
The statement added that each applicant must individually meet all the requirements, indicating that a parent’s qualifications cannot extend to a child, insisting that the child must independently meet each requirement, while disclosing that the number of applicants accepted for the Interview Waiver Programme may initially be limited.
The statement added that qualified applicants seeking to utilize this no-interview programme must set an appointment for document review online at ustraveldocs.com/ng. And on the date and time of the appointment, the applicant must drop off all necessary documents at the address specified in their appointment letter:
DS-160 confirmation page,
Valid passport and previous passports containing the most recent visa to the present,
I-20 and I-901 SEVIS receipt, DS-2019 (if applicable),
New passport photo,
Copy of parent’s visa (if minor).
Applicants will not have access to their passport until processing is completed. Processing times may vary, but are expected to be up to two months. In cases where an interview is deemed necessary, the embassy will return the passport and notify the applicant to set an appointment to appear in person.
Application fees will remain the same and can be found at travel.state.gov. ($160 USD for non-petition-based non-immigrant visas, and $190 USD for petition-based non-immigrant visa categories.
