The NIS spokesman, Sunday James, confirmed on Thursday in a statement that the change had been effected on the service portal.
The US government had, on Tuesday, announced that Nigerians applying for the US visas would be required to pay a visa issuance fee, or reciprocity fee, with effect from August 29.
By the new policy, applicants are required to pay $110 for B1, B2, B1/B2, F1 and F2 while H1B and H4 visas attract $180, among others.
The Mission explained that both reciprocity and Machine Readable Visa fees were non-refundable and their amounts varied based on visa classification.
Justifying the new policy, it said a total cost for a US citizen to obtain a visa to Nigeria was higher than the total cost for a Nigerian to obtain a comparable visa to the United States, noting that the new reciprocity fee for Nigerian citizens was meant to eliminate that cost difference.
The US stated that it had engaged the Federal Government since early 2018 to reduce the fees charged to US citizens for certain visa categories but it failed to act.(Punch)
