The U.S. Embassy in Nigeria has confirmed a partial system outage affecting visa services, leading to delays for applicants.
The disruption follows complaints from Nigerian visa applicants who reported service glitches and interruptions during the application process.
The issue has been linked to the embassy’s transition to a new visa appointment system, designed to improve efficiency.
According to The PUNCH, frustrated applicants reported that the U.S. Embassy failed to conduct scheduled visa interviews, exacerbating delays.
An inquiry sent to Jennifer Johnson, Press Officer at the Office of Public and Congressional Affairs, Bureau of Consular Affairs, U.S. Department of State, revealed the extent of the system glitches affecting the process.
The US state department responds
The U.S. Department of State confirmed that normal consular operations have been restored following a partial system outage that affected visa services in Nigeria.
State Department spokesperson Jennifer Johnson assured affected applicants that their interviews would be rescheduled, stating: “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.”
The U.S. Embassy has urged applicants to remain patient, assuring them that most technical issues have been resolved, while any remaining concerns are being addressed swiftly.
It has also directed applicants to its online platforms for assistance with scheduling, passport drop-off, and other inquiries.
