US Visa From Nigeria: B1/B2, DS-160 to Interview

A B1/B2 visitor visa from Nigeria costs $185 in MRV fees — about ₦285,000 at ₦1,540/$, July 2026. The process runs in five stages: DS-160, MRV payment, AVITS slot, interview, passport return. Most applicants today receive a visa valid 3 months, single entry. That’s a sharp cut from the multi-year visa many Nigerians held before July 2025. If you searched b1 b2 visa or “us visa from nigeria,” this guide sequences the whole journey in ₦. It links to the deep page for each step, instead of repeating it here.

1. File your DS-160 on ceac.state.gov/genniv — free. Full walkthrough: DS-160 form from Nigeria.
2. Pay the $185 MRV fee (~₦285,000, July 2026). Payment routes: MRV fee payment from Nigeria.
3. Book your AVITS slot at Lagos or Abuja once the receipt clears: US visa appointment from Nigeria.
4. Attend the interview with your DS-160 confirmation, passport, photo (if not uploaded) and evidence of ties and funds.
5. Wait for the decision. Most B1/B2 decisions come the same day — approved, refused under 214(b), or held under 221(g) administrative processing.
6. Collect your passport with the visa affixed, or by the courier/pickup option your consulate offers.

What a B1/B2 actually costs, and what it covers

In short: the visa costs a flat $185 MRV fee (~₦285,000 at ₦1,540/$, July 2026). That’s true whether your purpose is business or tourism. The DS-160 form itself is free. Source: travel.state.gov, “Fees for Visa Services”.

Immigration law writes it B-1/B-2. Most Nigerians just say b1 b2 visa, B1/B2 visa, or call it the visitor/tourist visa. B-1 covers business — meetings, negotiating a contract, attending a conference. Some call that the business visa route. B-2 covers tourism, family visits, or medical treatment. Most Nigerian applicants apply for the combined B1/B2 category. One officer can then issue either purpose, or both, on one document. Neither purpose allows paid work for a US employer or full-time degree study. Those need a different visa. The fee that actually matters is the MRV fee: $185, paid after your DS-160, before you can book an interview.

Source: travel.state.gov, “Fees for Visa Services”, July 2026; ₦ column computed at this site’s ₦1,540/$ July 2026 bank-card rate.

How long your B1/B2 is actually valid — the reciprocity fact most pages get wrong

In short: since 8 July 2025, most B1/B2 visas issued to Nigerian citizens are valid 3 months, single entry. That’s down from the 2- to 5-year multiple-entry visa many Nigerians held before that date. Source: travel.state.gov, “Visa Reciprocity and Civil Documents by Country — Nigeria”.

This is the fact almost no Nigeria-facing page states plainly. US visa validity is set per country, under a reciprocity arrangement. The US broadly mirrors what a country offers US citizens applying for the same category. On 8 July 2025, the State Department revised Nigeria’s terms. Most nonimmigrant, non-petition categories dropped to 3 months validity, single entry — B1/B2 included. Older advice online still quotes visa validity 2/5 years for Nigerians; that assumption no longer holds. Applicants in this site’s own community research describe the shift directly. An F-1 renewal thread on r/usvisascheduling asked whether post-change renewals “were still issued the 2 year multiple entry visa... or... the 3 month single entry visa” — confirming the cut applies to renewals, not only first-time applicants.

Two separate numbers matter here. Mixing them up is the most common B1/B2 planning mistake:

• Visa validity — how long the document lets you request entry at all. For most Nigerians today: 3 months from issue, one entry only.
• Authorized stay — how long you may remain on each visit. A CBP officer sets this at the US port of entry, on your Form I-94. It usually runs up to a 6-month stay (180 days), independent of the visa’s validity window.

A 3-month single-entry visa is not a 3-month trip limit. It means one attempt to enter before the visa expires. There’s no return trip on the same visa once you use that entry. Confirm your exact category on the Nigeria row of the reciprocity table on travel.state.gov before assuming anything longer.

The B1/B2 process from Nigeria, step by step

In short: the process runs DS-160, then the MRV fee, then an AVITS slot, then the interview, then passport return — in that order. Paying before your DS-160 is filed, or trying to edit a submitted form, is where most applicants get stuck. Source: travel.state.gov; ustraveldocs.com Nigeria applicant guide.

1. Complete the DS-160. Free, about 90 minutes, filed at ceac.state.gov/genniv. DS-160 form from Nigeria walks the Nigeria-specific fields — state naming, the NIN field, trader income — that CEAC’s own help text skips.
2. Upload your photo, or defer it to the interview. DS-160 photo requirements from Nigeria covers the upload-failure fix if CEAC keeps rejecting your file.
3. Pay the $185 MRV fee on AVITS. MRV fee payment from Nigeria covers which cards clear, the naira branch-payment option, and the clearing lag.
4. Book your slot at Lagos or Abuja once the receipt shows. US visa appointment from Nigeria covers realistic wait times and the two-reschedule limit.
5. Attend the interview. Short, and the officer has already read your DS-160 — interview questions from Nigeria covers how it actually runs.
6. Wait for the decision, and your passport return, through your consulate’s stated courier or pickup process.

Supporting documents — the compressed version

In short: bring your passport, DS-160 confirmation, and MRV receipt. Group your supporting documents into three sets: identity/ties, funding, trip purpose. That way you can produce any single item in seconds. Source: travel.state.gov, “Visitor Visa” required-documents list.

The officer may look at little of what you bring. Sort it so any one item is easy to find, not bulky. Bring your passport, valid well beyond your trip; your DS-160 confirmation barcode; your MRV fee receipt. Group everything else into three sets. Proof of ties to Nigeria: employment, business registration, family. Proof of funds. Anything specific to your trip purpose: invitation letter, conference registration, medical appointment letter. An over-promising invitation letter, or a thick stack of unrelated paperwork, reads worse than a thin, organized folder.

The dual-intent trap: why an honest tourist can still be refused

In short: a B1/B2 carries no dual intent allowance, unlike H-1B or L-1 status. Every applicant must show they intend to return to Nigeria. 214(b) is the refusal that follows when the officer isn’t convinced — honest or not. Source: travel.state.gov, “Visa Denials”.

Some US work visas — H-1B, L-1 — legally recognize dual intent. You can hold the visa while an immigrant petition is pending on your behalf. That pending petition does not count against you. B1/B2 has no such protection. Every applicant is presumed, under INA §214(b), to intend to immigrate. You have to overcome that presumption yourself, at the interview. This is not a finding that you lied — it’s a burden you carry into the room. A young, genuinely temporary visitor can still be refused, even with no property or dependants. An early career and an honest purpose don’t change that. The officer isn’t always doubting your stated plan. Often the file simply doesn’t show enough reason to come back. Read 214(b) refusal from Nigeria: what it means, and how to reapply for the full mechanism. It covers how a 214(b) refusal differs from a 221(g) administrative-processing hold, and what a reapplication actually costs.

Fabricating ties — a job, a relationship, a property you don’t have — is worse than a 214(b). Claimed falsely, it risks a misrepresentation finding under INA §212(a)(6)(C)(i): a permanent bar, not a $185 setback. Show real ties, not invented ones.

Proof of funds: how much money you actually need

In short: there’s no published minimum bank balance for a B1/B2 visa. The real test: do your funds credibly cover this specific trip, and are they traceably yours? Not a fixed naira figure. Source: travel.state.gov, “Visitor Visa” financial-evidence guidance.

Figures like “you need ₦10 million in your account” circulate widely in Nigerian japa groups. They have no basis in published US policy. What does the officer actually weigh? Whether your bank statement shows funds consistent with your income, your trip length, and who is paying. A single large deposit shortly before the interview, unexplained, reads as staged rather than reassuring. Self-employed and trader applicants should show a consistent deposit pattern tied to a described business, not a one-off top-up. Proof of funds from Nigeria has the full evidencing pattern. That includes the sponsor-affidavit route and what to do with cash income.

Paying the MRV fee from Nigeria

In short: the $185 MRV fee is billed in USD on AVITS. A plain naira card usually declines at that step. Working routes: a dollar card, a domiciliary account with a prepaid card, or a naira payment at a designated bank branch. Source: travel.state.gov, “Fees for Visa Services”; ustraveldocs.com Nigeria.

Paying from Nigeria: naira cards decline on foreign government portals. Use a dollar card, domiciliary + prepaid, or someone abroad — the full decision tree.

The receipt number your payment generates is the only credential that unlocks appointment booking. It’s non-refundable and non-transferable, so a “paid slot” bought from an agent is worthless the moment it changes hands. Full mechanics, including the branch-payment naira exception and the receipt’s one-year validity window, are in MRV fee payment from Nigeria.

Booking your slot, and the honest wait times

In short: you book through AVITS, Nigeria’s CGI Federal-run scheduling platform. Lagos and Abuja don’t move together. Compare both posts' live wait times before you commit a profile to one. Source: travel.state.gov/wait-times; ng.usembassy.gov.

Once your receipt clears, scheduling unlocks on AVITS. Posted wait times shift week to week and by category. Real applicant reports run past the official figure in busy periods. US visa appointment from Nigeria covers the full booking order and reschedule limits. It also covers expedite eligibility for genuine emergencies, and why nobody can legitimately sell you a slot.

Interview day: what to expect

In short: the Lagos/Abuja interview is short. The officer has already read your DS-160. The decision usually turns on consistency between your form and your answers — not a memorized script. Source: ng.usembassy.gov interview guidance.

A b1 b2 visa interview runs the same short script at both posts. Dress and answer plainly. Bring your documents sorted, not bulky. The officer’s questions probe the same handful of themes: purpose, funding, ties. A coached answer that contradicts your DS-160 is worse than an imperfect honest one. See US visa interview questions from Nigeria for the exact question patterns Nigerian applicants report. It also covers how to answer the ties question without the classic markers of property or dependants. Unfamiliar with a term here — MRV, AVITS, 214(b), dual intent? The visa glossary defines each in one line.

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