US embassy changes service providers in Nigeria over racketeering

The United States Embassy in Nigeria has announced a new visa services provider for its Abuja and Lagos consulates, expected to take effect from August 26, 2024.

The announcement was made on its website and its official X account on Wednesday.

This comes amid complaints from Nigerian applicants over late appointment dates and racketeering at its consulate general office in Lagos.

Following the development, the embassy announced a change in its service providers.

“The U.S. Embassy in Abuja and the U.S. Consulate General in Lagos are moving to a new visa services provider on August 26, 2024,” it said.

The embassy explained that applicants in Nigeria who had already booked an appointment date would no longer have access to the U.S. travel website from August 16.

“This means you will not be able to cancel or reschedule your appointment from August 16, 2024, and will have no access to customer service. You should print your appointment confirmation letter before August 16, 2024, and we strongly encourage you to attend your visa interview if possible – if you fail to appear for your scheduled interview, please check here on or after August 26, 2024, for instructions on rescheduling your appointment,” the announcement stated.

According to the announcement, a “new visa appointment website goes live” by August 26 to ease visa services.

Recall that in the past weeks, many Nigerians applying for a U.S visa have lamented over the difficulty in getting appointment dates despite charging and paying visa fees.