The United States Department of State has attributed recent challenges Nigerians face applying for US visas to a partial systems outage.
Press Officer, Office of Public and Congressional Affairs, Bureau of Consular Affairs, U.S. Department of State, Jennifer Johnson, made this known in response to an enquiry.
This comes amid reports of glitches faced by Nigerian visa applicants, who particularly lamented that the US Embassy failed to interview those scheduled for appointments as part of the visa application process.
Reacting to the situation, the State Department spokesperson, on Saturday, acknowledged the issues but assured that normalcy had been restored to consular operations.
Johnson further assured that those affected visa applicants will have their interviews rescheduled.
Johnson stated, “The U.S. Department of State experienced a partial systems outage, which has since been restored.
“All consular operations have resumed as normal.
“Visa applicants, whose interviews must be rescheduled due to the outage, will be notified.”
Recall that the US mission in Nigeria last year launched a transition to a new visa appointment system.
The transition to the new visa system came after reports of corruption and racketeering against the handlers.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has renewed his administration’s anti-migrant policies with mass deportation through Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE.
Trump, in a recent joint session of Congress, said that his administration’s fresh immigration initiative, Gold Card, would be on sale very soon. The Gold Card would provide a US citizenship path for immigrants at a $5 million price tag.