We are not certain when visa operations will resume in Nigeria ― Ambassador

Mary Beth Leonard, US Ambassador

United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Beth Leonard, says she is not certain when visa operations will resume in Nigeria.

Responding to questions in a recent interview on when visa operations will commence, the US ambassador to Nigeria said, “We cannot give an exact answer to that question because none of us knows what the shape of the novel coronavirus will be.

“Obviously, something like a public service is very difficult because lots of people would be in a closed location.”

Ambassador Leonard stated that “the US mission is still working very hard on all the activities related to COVID-19, and related to our other streams of work.

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“Generally speaking, we’re taking the advice of the Nigerian government to in so far as possible, limit contacts with people and to avoid large groups.

“You know, part of the calculus here is that in so far as there are no aeroplanes flying, a demand for visas will be to do what, exactly, in the absence of commercial air traffic? There are lots of conversations about how the world opens up as we confront the virus and figure out how to live with it.

And we’ll make those decisions in a way to keep everybody as safe as possible.”

In February, US authorities stated that in response to significant worldwide challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of State has temporarily suspended routine visa services at all U.S. Embassies and Consulates.

Embassies and consulates have cancelled all routine immigrant and non-immigrant visa appointments as of March 20, 2020, but will continue to provide emergency and mission-critical visa services as resources and local conditions allow.

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