USA denies visa applications of over 71% Nigerian students in 2022

Iben Ejikeme Business, Education 01/08/2023

A study by the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration concluded that in 2022, the United States (USA) turned down visa requests from 71% of students from Nigeria and other West African nations.

According to the “Shorelight” study, West Africa had the continent’s highest percentage of visa denials in 2022. Among the continents of Africa, Central Africa had a refusal rate of 61%, Northern Africa had a refusal rate of 49%, Eastern Africa had a refusal rate of 48%, and Southern Africa had a rate of 16%.

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The report noted that “The visa denial rates for Southern Africa are in fact among the lowest in the world, paralleling those of Europe.

“If Southern Africa is excluded from the mix, the denial rate for the rest of Africa increases to 57 per cent as compared with 54 per cent overall.”

According to the alliance of American college and university leaders, data from MPOWER Financing for international students who obtain financing to study in the U.S. revealed a similar pattern. It stated that of the 3,000 students from Sub-Saharan Africa admitted for graduate studies to a top U.S. university in 2022, only about 60 per cent were granted a student visa to the US despite being admitted and having secured the required funding.

It said this translated to a denial rate of 40 per cent, compared to 30 per cent for India, and 10 per cent for students from China and Brazil.

Commenting on the difficulty of getting a US visa from Nigeria, the alliance said, “MPOWER further reports that first-hand accounts from African students suggest a range of barriers related to the visa interview process, from securing visa interview slots in the first place to having to travel to a second country due to the unavailability of adequate interview slots in Nigerian cities, and to ultimately being held to a higher standard by U.S. immigration authorities than their peers from other emerging markets.”