The Nigerian government has expressed its intention to reciprocate the U.S. visa policy that requires Nigerian visa applicants to disclose their social media profiles and activities from the past five years.
In a statement on Monday, the U.S. Mission in Nigeria revealed that Nigerian visa applicants would now be mandated to provide a complete list of social media handles used within the last five years when completing the DS-160 visa application form. The U.S. authorities warned that failing to provide this information could result in visa denials and ineligibility for future U.S. visas.
The new policy stipulates, “Visa applicants must list all social media usernames or handles of platforms they have used in the past five years. Applicants must certify that the details in their visa application are accurate before submission. Omitting this information could lead to visa denial and future visa ineligibility.”
Reacting to this development, Kimiebi Ebienfa, the spokesman for Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, confirmed that the Ministry had been notified of the U.S. policy in advance. He also emphasized that the Nigerian government would take a reciprocal approach, applying similar requirements to U.S. citizens wishing to visit Nigeria.
Ebienfa stated, “We are aware of the announcement. It’s part of the measures the U.S. Mission had informed us about earlier. On issues like this, the best course of action is to mirror the same steps. If the U.S. is requiring our nationals to provide social media details, we will also require U.S. citizens applying for Nigerian visas to do the same.”
He further added that the Nigerian government would soon convene an inter-agency meeting involving the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Interior, and the National Intelligence Agency to discuss and decide on the best course of action to take in response to the U.S. visa policy.
