By Mikail Mumuni
The US Embassy has described as ‘fake news’, reports that it has stopped issuing Student Visa to Nigerians .
In a brief statement issued on Monday, June 17, 2019, the U S Embassy said “#FakeNews Alert! Be advised, reports of Student Visa ban for Nigerians is false. If you have seen such manufactured item on Facebook and Twitter or received it via WhatsApp, please communicate that it is false.”
A report had last week claimed that the U.S. immigration office had halted issuing student visas to Nigerians until further notice.
The report said the decision was a new measure to impose visa restrictions on countries whose citizens have a track record of overstaying beyond the validity of their short-term US visas.
Last month, the US Mission in Nigeria indefinitely suspended the visa interview waiver for those renewing visas in the country.
Before now, Nigerian holders of US visa types B1/B2, F, H, and L could renew their visas online by processing it through DHL using one of several dropbox locations across Nigeria without attending physical interviews.
Even though the Mission said the new measure was to provide more efficient customer service and promote legitimate travel, many believe it’s a measure by President Donald Trump’s administration to clamp down on immigration.