US extends visa renewal waiver to 48 months

The U.S. Mission has announced that it is expanding the eligibility period for nonimmigrant visa renewals from 24 months to 48 months.

Applicants whose previous U.S. visa expired within the last 48 months or will expire in the next three months now qualify to renew their visa without an interview.

The U.S. Mission says it is also opening thousands of visa renewal appointments to assist applicants who wish to renew their visas

A statement by the U.S. Mission on Friday, explained that applicants may be eligible for a visa renewal without an interview if their application is for a B1/B2, F, M, J (academic only), H, L or C1/D (combined only) visa.

Such visa holders may also be eligible if their previous visa was issued in Nigeria and the previous visa is in the same classification as the current application.

The previous visa also has to have been one with full validity, having multiple entry privilege and expires within the last 48 months or will expire in the next 3 months from the date of application.

Applicants looking to qualify for the new offering must have all their passports covering the entire period since receiving the previous visa and the passport with the most recent visa, the statement from the mission said.

The waiver also covers applicants that have never been arrested or convicted of any crime or offense in the United States, even if you later received a waiver or pardon and those that have never worked without authorization or remained beyond their permitted time in the United States.

However, the mission hinted that processing times for the program are expected to be up to two months and applicants will not be able to retrieve passports during that time.

“Each applicant must individually meet the criteria; minors can apply without an interview only if they meet the eligibility criteria on their own,” the US mission added.

Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha

Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha is the Aviation Correspondent at BusinessDay Media Limited, publishers of BusinessDay Newspapers. She is also the Deputy Editor, BusinessDay Weekender Magazine, the Saturday Weekend edition of BusinessDay. She holds a BSC in Mass Communication from the prestigious University of Nigeria, Nsukka and a Masters degree in Marketing at the University of Lagos. As the lead writer on the aviation desk, Ifeoma is responsible and in charge of the three weekly aviation and travel pages in BusinessDay and BDSunday. She also overseas and edits all pages of BusinessDay Saturday Weekender. She has written various investigative, features and news stories in aviation and business related issues and has been severally nominated for award in the category of Aviation Writer of the Year by the Nigeria Media Nite-Out awards; one of the Nigeria’s most prestigious media awards ceremonies. Ifeoma is a one-time winner of the prestigious Nigeria Media Merit Award under the 'Aviation Writer of the Year' Category. She is the 2025 Eloy Award winner under the Print Media Journalist category. She has undergone several journalism trainings by various prestigious organisations. Ifeoma is also a fellow of the Female Reporters Leadership Fellowship of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism.