The United States Embassy has announced priority visa appointments for Nigerian students who will be resuming studies during the Fall.

The announcement was made on Friday by the U.S Mission Country Consular Coordinator, Susan Tuller, who said, “As we continue to prioritize the health and safety of our staff and customers, processing student visas remains a high priority for the U.S. Mission in Nigeria.”

Tuller said the two visa processing centres, the U.S Embassy in Abuja and the Consulate General office in Lagos will “assist student visa applicants in a timely fashion while keeping personnel and customers safe”.

Nigeria has the highest number of student visa applications in Africa and is the eleventh largest source worldwide of international students to the United States. In academic year 2019-2020, a record-breaking number of nearly 14,000 Nigerians pursued graduate and undergraduate degrees in the United States.

“We will increase the number of student visa appointments in May and June to ensure that we can offer appointments to as many students as possible,” Tuller further said. “If your U.S. studies are scheduled to begin this Fall, we encourage you to schedule your appointment as quickly as possible.”

Due to Covid-19 restrictions, online teaching was adopted by many schools abroad, with travelling declined, leading to a huge loss in the enrollment of international students in U.S. universities. With the distribution of vaccines across the world, more travelling is now happening.

“Both Nigeria and the United States benefit when Nigerian students study at one of our world-class educational institutions,” Tuller added while advising applicants to avoid the use of third parties who may not always provide the correct information applicants need.

She encouraged applicants to make use of EducationsUSA Advising Centers in Abuja, Lagos, Ibadan and Calabar.