Agony of securing U.S. visa dates

Securing a U.S. visa interview date has become an exhausting race for Nigerian students, with many likening it to “hunting for the fattest animal” in a barren forest.

The struggle intensified following U.S. President Donald Trump’s suspension of student visa processing between May and June 2025, which temporarily halted new interviews for foreign students.

This pause has caused a severe backlog, leaving thousands, particularly F1 visa applicants for the fall and spring 2025 academic sessions, scrambling for scarce appointment slots.

For many funded students, the inability to secure an interview date has put their scholarships, graduate assistantships, and admissions at risk.

While most available dates are now pushed to late 2026, the few 2025 slots that appear online vanish within seconds, creating a cutthroat “survival of the fittest” scenario.

In interviews with PM News, affected students shared their frustrations:

• Bola Odegbami: “At this point, even if I see flash, it does not matter again. I lost the admission and GA.”

• Laide Fatoki: “My mates have resumed school and I’m here still hunting for dates.”

• Ife Ajala: “They aren’t releasing any dates. People are frustrated. Schools have told them they lost their admissions or must defer. I’m certain these dates are trickling down from rejected and moved appointments.”

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• Martins Ige: “I saw August 21 yesterday too. I clicked but didn’t book. My school, University of Massachusetts Boston, resumes 2nd September. No deferment allowed. My admission, funding, and Graduate Assistantship will be cancelled after that date.”

The U.S. visa booking process in Nigeria requires applicants to complete the DS-160 form, pay the visa fee, and book through platforms like ustraveldocs.com or the AVITS (usvisaappt.com) website.

However, the scarcity of slots has driven applicants to join Telegram, WhatsApp groups, refresh portals at odd hours, and even rely on rumours of cancellations to catch elusive openings.

Emergency appointment requests exist but require an existing booking, and approvals are not guaranteed.

Many students fear that without swift intervention, an entire academic year, and years of seeking for millions in educational funding will be lost.

For now, the struggle continues. As one applicant put it: “It’s not about who deserves it, it’s about who clicks faster on the AVITS portal.”