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Nigerians in US to apply for visa in person, NIS ends OIS role

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The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has commenced the immediate disengagement of Online Integrated Solutions (OIS Services) as the operator of Nigeria’s Visa Application and Submission Centres in the United States.

The development was disclosed in a public notice published on the service’s official X handle on Thursday, with the agency advising prospective travellers and Nigerians resident in the US seeking entry visas to Nigeria to take note of the new arrangement.

According to the NIS, OIS Services will no longer collect or submit visa applications on behalf of Nigerian diplomatic missions in the United States.

“The Nigeria Immigration Service hereby informs the general public, particularly prospective travellers and Nigerians residing in the United States of America who may require a visa to enter Nigeria, that Online Integrated Solution (OIS SERVICES), the operator of Nigeria’s Visa Application and Submission Centres in the United States, has officially been disengaged from the collection and submission of visa applications on behalf of the Nigerian Mission, effective immediately,” the statement said.

Following the change, the service directed all applicants seeking Nigerian visas to submit their applications directly at the Embassy of Nigeria in Washington, D.C., or at the Nigerian Consulates in New York and Atlanta until further notice.

The Consulate General of Nigeria in New York also confirmed the development in a notice posted on its website, informing prospective applicants, including Nigerians in the diaspora, that OIS Services “has discontinued the collection and submission of visa applications on behalf of the Consulate.”

Before its disengagement, OIS Services served as the outsourced visa application centre for Nigerian missions across several US locations, including Washington, D.C., Houston, Atlanta, Los Angeles and New Jersey, where it handled biometric capture and document submission for visa applicants.

No reason was disclosed by either Nigeria Immigration Service nor the Nigerian missions in the United States for terminating the company’s engagement, leaving the circumstances surrounding the decision unclear.