William Laidlaw, the Consul General of the US embassy, revealed while speaking to Punch that the most common reasons why Nigerians are denied US visas, is because they fail to provide evidence of social and economic ties to their country.
Laidlaw said, “To really qualify for a visit to the US, you have to show you have social and economic ties sufficient to meet the immigration terms we have in our laws.
“To have those social and economic ties usually means somebody who has developed a career, developed a household and has done something to develop himself within Nigeria.”
Laidlaw also stated that people who were refused visa could re-apply if they felt that their situations had changed, as according to him, statistics showed that many who re-applied were eventually issued visas.
“If you can establish your social and economic ties and we understand who you are in Nigerian context, that allows us to make an evaluation judgment; It’s very hard for very young people, I’m sorry, but that’s the way the law is written,” he said.
According to him, no fewer than 7,000 Nigerians are studying in the United States, while noting that 66 per cent of tourist visa applications were approved in 2014.
Photo Credit: Visa Lawyer Blog
