Visa Tips

Easiest way to get American Visa From Nigeria

Published on April 5, 2024

Many Nigerians plan to travel out of the country. The majority who travel have a higher level of education, almost more than that of American citizens. About 50%—60% of Nigerians who travel to America are college graduates, but for Americans, it’s quite less.

Nigerians/ Americans have both contributed to America’s arts and letters, from policy to poetry. ImeIme Umana, the first woman of color to be president of the Harvard Law Review, and renowned writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie are the two prominent Nigerian Americans.

In 2020, former President Donald Trump included Nigeria among the countries whose residents were prohibited from immigrating to the United States.

The following year, President Joe Biden changed the ban on his first day of resumption to office. While Covid-19 still affected immigration, the legal prohibitions on immigrating from Nigeria to the United States were stopped.

In this article, you will learn about the easiest way to get a visa from Nigeria.

There is a US embassy in Abuja, but only the US Consulate in Lagos processes immigrant visas. The consulate follows COVID-19 protocols and is presently providing few visa services frequently.

Since June 2021, booking an appointment has become necessary. The consulate Contact information is United States Consulate General Lagos Office, 2 Walter Carrington Crescent, Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria.

Contact information:

♠ Telephone number: +234 1 227 8955

♠ Fax: +234 1 261 9856

♠ Email: For complaints on immigration: LagosIV@state.gov

For complaints on student visas: LagosStudentVisas@state.gov

There are practically four paths to immigrate from Nigeria, and all have their requirements that must be met.

♠ Family visa

♠ Student visa

♠ Work visa

♠ investment visa

In June 2021, the immigrant visa unit of the consulate started prioritizing the following applicants, per the Consulate’s website:

1. Adoptions: appointments for adopted children of U.S. citizens

2. Spouses and children of U.S. citizens

3. Student Visas

Below are the primary process for applying for an immigrant visa from Nigeria;

First step:

The first step is to fill out the form for the type of visa you are applying for and create an account online.

You start by filling out the form for United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for the right kind of visa. If the Application is approved, it will be sent to the National Visa Center (NVC), a department under the State Department. They will continue with the application process.

The NVC will send a correspondence with instructions on how to create a profile at the Consular Electronic Application Center (CEAC) to follow up on visa applications. Other processes are carried out here, including visa payment fees.

When a petition has been accepted by the NVC and transferred to the CEAC, the process is managed online through the CEAC.

Second step:

You will receive an invitation when the application is entered into the CEAC system. Immediately you receive an interview date, fix a medical exam. Every person who applied is expected to sit for a medical examination in Lagos. This can only be done by professional doctors certified by the United States Consulate there.

You are to come with the following documents to the medical examination:

♠ Five (5) recently taken passport-sized color photographs

♠ Immunization records

♠ Visa interview letter

♠ Passport

♠ DS-260 confirmation page

Applicants are told to complete a medical examination for at least 14 days from beginning to end, as stated by the embassy. Make sure you fix your examination date at least three months before the immigrant visa interview at the embassy.

Third step:

Prepare for the interview.

The NVC will notify you of the documents you need to bring for the interview. The embassy office won’t be able to complete an application process without the particular documents. If you don’t have the documents during the interview, it might delay the whole process.

Fourth step:

Make sure you attend the interview once a date is fixed.

Fifth step:

Once you are done with the interview, if the visa is approved, it will be printed on a page in your passport. Normally, a date is given when the visa will expire, and it’s issued before that date. With the visa, you can now work and live in the U.S.

Having a visa doesn’t mean you can be granted access to travel to the United States. The Department of Homeland Security is in charge of authorizing you or giving the approval to either enter or deny your entrance to the United States.