PRESS RELEASE

U.S. Mission To Nigeria And United Bank For Africa PLC Fee Collection Agreement

June 29, 2006

Consul General, Mr. Brian Browne and UBA Chief Executive Officer and Group Managing Director, Mr. Tony Elumelu sign the contract agreement on Thursday, June 29, 2006

The formal execution of the visa fee collection agreement between the U.S. Mission to Nigeria and United Bank for Africa Plc took place today, Thursday June 29, 2006 at the U.S. Consulate General in Lagos. The event featured a signing of the document by the Consul General, Mr. Brian Browne and UBA Chief Executive Officer and Group Managing Director, Mr. Tony Elumelu.

The agreement will enable UBA to deliver fee collection and retail banking services to the U.S. Mission and its clients. It will bring simplicity, speed and convenience to the payment process for non-immigrant visa applicants and other clients of the U.S. Mission.

Starting today, UBA will begin collecting the N14,000 non-immigrant visa fee from visa applicants at their designated branches. After paying the fee, applicants will be given a receipt that will serve as evidence of payment when the applicants come for their interviews. Although the U.S. Mission encourages applicants to make their non-immigrant visa fee payment at any of the designated UBA branches, cash payments will continue to be acceptable the remainder of this week.

Beginning Monday, July 3, 2006 all non-immigrant visa applicants will be required to visit one of the designated branches of UBA Plc to make their payment before their interview. The U.S. Mission and UBA are committed to making this change as easy as possible for all applicants. The new payment procedure will simplify the visa process and promises to further improve the quality of service provided.

In recent years, the U.S. Mission has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in renovations and other improvements designed to support more comfortable and efficient processing of visa applicants.

 

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