Nigeria to Demand US Visa Applicants’ Social Media Details in Reciprocity Policy

The federal government says it will reciprocate the United States’ new visa policy, which requires Nigerian visa applicants to provide details of their social media accounts from the past five years.

On Monday, the US mission in Nigeria announced that applicants must disclose usernames or handles across all platforms used within the period. The mission also warned that omitting social media information could result in visa denial and ineligibility for future applications.

Reacting to the development, Kimiebi Ebienfa, spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told newsmen that the federal government would respond with reciprocal measures. He explained that the ministry was informed ahead of the US announcement.

“Anything related to visas is reciprocal. What you mandate our nationals to do, we will also mandate your citizens applying for our visas to do,” Ebienfa said.

He added that the federal government would convene an inter-agency meeting involving the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Interior, and the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) to agree on the best response to the new visa requirements.

“So, the relevant stakeholders will meet and decide on a holistic response,” he said.

Earlier, in June, the US directed international student applicants to make their social media accounts public for vetting. In July, persons applying for F, M, and J non-immigrant visas were asked to adjust their privacy settings to ‘public’ to allow US authorities unrestricted access during background checks.