The U.S government has cancelled the appointment waiver—known as “Dropbox”—for visa renewals in Nigeria. The Dropbox allowed eligible applicants to renew their visas without face-to-face interviews in the United States Embassy in Lagos or Abuja.
Although, the embassy in question has not released any official details about this but affected applicants believe that the option has been quietly removed from the appointment booking portal.
The affected applicants—whose visas have due for renewal—reported that the "Dropbox" service is no longer available while attempting to schedule their visa renewals.
Now that the Dropbox service is no longer available in the US visa appointment booking system in Nigeria, all applicants will need to undergo mandatory in-person interviews to renew or secure their visa.
The in-person interviews were stopped in 2020. Then “Dropbox” service was introduced to streamline visa renewal simply by letting qualified applicants to submit their travel documents without attending any form of interpersonal communication at the US Embassy or Consulate.
However, it worth noting that before now, the “Dropbox” service has long been removed in U.S Embassy in Lagos in early January 2025. Applicants were forced to submit their renewal application at the U.S. Embassy in Abuja.
The removal of the Dropbox services align with executive orders signed by President Donald Trump, which have impacted global visa processes. Similar to a 2018 suspension, the US government is concerned over Nigerian travelers overstaying their visas time as one of the factors.
In a nutshell, the removal of the US Visa Drop Box service brings back a stricter visa renewal protocols which had long been forgotten since 2020. It will also exacerbate existing delays and complicate the process for all Nigerian applicants regardless of their visa status (whether new applicant or renewable).
Now, if you want to get a US visa or you want to renew your visa application, you will need to schedule an in-person interview with the US Embassy in Lagos or Abuja Nigeria. However, it’s important to not that many people are already on the queue, so the waiting time for an interview to come to your lane could be really long—it can even take up to a year.
