A Wren Says

If you are looking for visa information trying to get ready for a trip to Nigeria beware. There are a lot of places that will try to take advantage of you. In short there are outright scams and near extortion. Be mindful that when you do you try to get your visa, you need to do so through official channels. There are three consulates/embassies in the U.S. I have listed them here with there official websites linked: New York, Atlanta, and Washington, DC. Something you should know is that the embassies have turned over visa processing to third parties. These are Thebez Global Resources and O.I.S Services. The embassy nearest you may use one or both of these organizations. In addition to the embassy sites, there are also official processing centers in Houston and Los Angeles You can get a link to these sites from the applications on the embassy sites.

This is perhaps the most more important note of this. You will see a lot websites for “visa services” that claim they will get you your visa faster. Please, I beg you, be careful. These places charge huge fees and are not official partners with the embassies. You are not guaranteed proper services if you go through these channels. There are stories of people getting their visas after going through these routes. But if you choose to do so, you are doing it at your own risk. It bears repeating. Go the official route.

These are some other bits of information you should know

1. You’re not going to have any communication with the consulate- The Nigerian consulate works with third party providers to process their visa application. This means when you book your visa appointment, you will be going to these providers’ offices and not the consulate. Make sure you have the right address ahead of time.
2. Maybe you don’t need those passport photo- I went to the drug store and paid quite a bit of money to get a passport photo made. Here is the problem: The file size for US passport photos is too large for the application. The Nigerian consulate only takes photos that fit within 200×450 mega pixels on the online application. And they don’t
3. They will take your biometrics (fingerprints) and photo. -Make sure you are photo ready, because that picture will be part of the new visa that gets printed on to your passport.
4. You will need to leave your passport- Don’t schedule any international trips between your appointment and the trip where the visa will be required. If you do, you will be sorely disappointed when you either have to cancel your trip or reschedule your visa appointment. Also make sure you are squared away with additional forms of identification if you need to do any paperwork. I’m thinking especially about I-9 documents if you are starting a new job.
5. You can make an appointment at any of the sites- Don’t think that you are limited to the embassy location nearest you. You can make and appointment for New York, DC, or Atlanta. You just have to note this as your site of preference in your application and other documents.

And that’s it. That should be helpful for you as you prep yourself for a worthwhile trip.