A report on the activities of the Consulate for 2021 obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in New York, said that the documents, purportedly issued by various courts in Nigeria, were presented to the Consulate-General for certification.
“This development is worrisome as such documents, including Decree NISI and Absolute, ostensibly to dissolve marriages contracted in Nigeria, would have been first submitted to host authorities, and only presented to the Consulate for certification after being rejected by host authorities.
“To curtail these unwholesome practices, the Consulate insisted that on the documents being first certified by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Abuja, being re-certified for presentation to U.S. authorities.
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“The Consulate recommends strengthening of vetting and certification process of documents presented for authentication at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Abuja, intended for use abroad.
“This is to ensure the genuineness of these documents and avoid embarrassment to the Consulate and Nigeria. It is pertinent to state that the Consulate has limitations in independently verifying documents emanating from Nigerian agencies at home.’’
According to the report, the Consulate rendered necessary assistance within its mandate, particularly through certification of documents to nationals to regularise their stay in the U.S. in 2021.
“There has been increasing number of Nigerians visiting the Consulate-General to seek assistance to facilitate regularisation of their stay, following the promise by President Joe Biden, to grant law-abiding foreigners their stay.’’
In addition, it said that the Consulate-General had succeeded in checking the forgery of authorisation letter from the Federal Ministry of Health for a waiver to bring human remains back to Nigeria for burial.
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