By Adesoba Toluwalope
US mission has come out to point things out considering the new US’s pilot Visa bond programme and that Nigeria is not among the African countries eligible for the bond.
The US mission in Nigeria made this known through a post made on their website on Tuesday.
President of the United States of America, Donald Trump, issued this new temporary rule for African tourists. The rule could require tourist to pay $15,000 to visit the United States.
The new rule, which takes effect December 24 and is expected to run through June 24, has target countries whose nationals have higher rate of overstaying B-2 Visas for tourists and B-1 Visas for business tourists.
However, Nigeria is not included in this list.
The website post read reads, “In response to the April 2019 Presidential Memorandum on combating High Nonimmigrant Overstay Rates, the Department and our embassies and consulates overseas conducted an in-depth analysis to identity and address root causes of overstay.”
“Among other efforts to address this challenge, the state Department is considering additional steps to address overstay, including piloting a limited visa bonds program to test, in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security, the operational feasibility of posting, processing, and discharging visa bonds as means to ensure the timely departure from the United States of certain travelers.”
“Accordingly, the State Department will begin a limited six month visa bond pilot program beginning on December 24, 2020.”
“We are committed to combating visa overstays and making sure travelers to the United States respect our laws.”
“The implementation of this pilot builds on our engagement with foreign governments in recent years and will ensure continued process to reduce overstay rates. Nigeria is not included in this six month pilot program.”
