Recently, the United States hiked visa fees for Nigerians applying for the US visa from any country in the world.
Is it really justified for the US Government to expect parity between fees paid by Americans to obtain Nigerian visa and fees paid by Nigerians to obtain the US Visa?
How many Americans apply for the Nigerian visa annually? Probably 10,000, I’m being generous with the number. How many of them are given visas eventually? Most likely the whole of the 10,000! Until the reduction of last week, an American applicant pays $180 as visa application fee. This translates to $1.8 million per annum.
Let’s assume that the cost of processing the visa application between the US and Nigeria is $90, that is, 50% of the visa application fee. That gives Nigeria a net revenue of $900,000 per annum.
Now, let’s compare it to visa processing procedures by the US Embassy.
It is most probable that an average of 5,000,000 Nigerians apply for the B1/B2 visa annually. It could be more.
Each of these applicants pays $160, which translates to $800 million revenue annually. Out of this throng of applicants, 10% of them will have their visa processed while the remaining 4,500,000 would be declined right at the interview stage.
What this means is that the US State Department makes an average of $720 million free money from the US visa-seeking Nigerians whose applications do not go beyond the US embassy in Abuja and consulate in Lagos.
That’s not all.
The 500,000 successful applicants would now be required to pay, in addition to the $160 application fee, a reciprocity fee of $110.
On the 500,000 successful applicants, the US State Department will make an additional unencumbered $55 million revenue from Nigerians. Please, bear in mind that the initial $160 has been paid for the cost of your visa processing.
The minimum estimated profit the United States Embassy would make from Nigeria annually is $720 million plus $55 million. That equals $775 million.
What the United States forgets is that it enjoys the economics of scale over Nigeria in its visa operations. So, asking for parity is a deliberate ploy to deprive Nigeria of the meagre revenue it makes for visa operations in the United States.
Can you compare a country making $775million annual profit to a country making a paltry $900,000?
What is the reciprocity in this, the US Embassy Nigeria? This is befuddling.
Oludare Taiwo
Magodo, Lagos state
