The Chargé d’Affaires of the United States Embassy in Nigeria, David Greene, has revealed that in the year 2023 alone, no fewer than 180,000 Nigerians intending to travel to the US, in what is now referred to as the “Japa” syndrome, were interviewed for visa applications.
Greene who disclosed this in an interview on Sunday, said out of the figure, 30,000 were students wishing to pursue their education in the US.
Greene added that though the demand for visa by Nigerians was more than the supply, the embassy was doing everything possible to clear the applications from Nigerians.
“What folks do not know is that this year we have interviewed more than 150,000 people,” Greene said.
“This is in addition to 30,000 students. Hundreds of thousands of students have had the opportunity to seek visas from the U.S.
“We are doing the best we can to get proper ways for all the categories after having an enormous backlog as a result of COVID-19, and all that.
“We have made great progress though. In March we instituted a five-year term for visas to the U.S.
“When it comes to visas, it is a simple fact, the demand for visa appointments outnumbers the supply.
“Folks that are seeking visas should apply early, make sure that the plan is for an event as they can. This is because we do acknowledge that there is a backlog and we will do what we can to make sure people that need a warrant visa to the U.S., can get them,” he said.
The envoy, however, assured visa applicants of the mission’s commitment to tackling all visa-related hitches as issues related to visas would fully become a thing of the past.