No More $25: Nigerians Lament as Visa-on-Arrival Fee Increases, Becomes Highest in Africa
- Four years ago, former President Muhammadu Buhari established Nigeria's visa-on-arrival (VoA) programme
- The fee has since grown to over $200, compared to other African countries that charge between $40 and $100
- Applicants whose visas are approved often have delays in receiving the necessary documents for approval and often miss their departure dates
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Legit.ng journalist Zainab Iwayemi has over 3-year-experience covering the Economy, Technology, and Capital Market
Nigeria’s visa-on-arrival (VoA) fee has been identified as one of the costliest across the continent.
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VOA is a facility available to all business travellers and African Union citizens (non-ECOWAS citizens) who plan to visit Nigeria for business or tourism, depending on their nationality.
The programme in Nigeria was introduced by ex-president Muhammadu Buhari four years ago.
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However, the process of obtaining it has remained onerous, hindering investors' ability to take advantage of prospects in the most populous country in Africa.
Nigeria charges more
According to BusinessDay's findings, Nigeria charges more than $200 for visa-on-arrival, whilst other African nations charge between $40 and $100.
It is understood that even after meeting all the conditions set forth by the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), some applicants are not granted visas.
Findings also showed that those who are eventually granted visas are faced with delayed paperwork approval, resulting in several of them missing their scheduled departure dates.
In addition to this, applicants have recently complained that the technology supporting the application system has unresolved glitches, making the payment, reception, and online approval processes difficult.
The Nigeria Immigration Service rarely sends approval documents to applicants who have paid online and obtained receipts (NIS).
Since the application form is one of the prerequisites to fly into Nigeria, several airlines do not permit these applicants to board the aircraft.
How Nigerians are reacting
The founder of Money Africa and Ladda, a platform for financial literacy and investing, Olúwatósín Olaseinde, recently shared via her X handle that she was part of a group attending a conference in Abuja that was being hosted by a multinational and that she observed that non-Nigerians were having difficulty obtaining visas to attend.
“It never dawned on me that people also struggle to get our visas,” Olaseinde said.
The first obstacle to visiting Nigeria is obtaining a visa, according to Ikechi Uko, a travel specialist and organiser of the Akwaaba African Travel Market and Calabar Carnival, which attract visitors worldwide.
She also noted that Nigeria has not yet found out how to establish itself as a tourism destination.
The travel specialist said:
“The government stated in 2018-2019 that Nigeria would issue VoA. That was badly done, I can tell you. It was not properly done. Even at that, as we are now mastering it and improving on it, the government has just added the first $90 biometric charge.
“So, if your visa was $25 before, it is now over $100. Then, this year, the government changed the biometric to $190. There is no visa you pay for coming to Nigeria that is less than $200. Why would you be charging fellow Africans $200 in this economy just for a visa? That is terrible,” Uko said.
Ikechi added that just as high visa prices in Europe deter immigration, Nigeria should not be charging high visa fees to other African nations.
She also voiced her displeasure over the VoA technology platform, saying that the lengthy visa application process frequently causes problems.
On her part, Susan Akporaiye, the former president of the National Association of Nigerian Travel Agencies (NANTA), said she and her staff discussed expediting the visa application process with the immigration office while she was still the president of NANTA.
According to Akporaiye, having a challenging visa on arrival procedure has the unintended consequence of discouraging investors from visiting Nigeria.
Another African country unveils visa-on-arrival
Legit.ng previously reported that the Ghanaian government announced visa-on-arrival policies for travellers arriving between December 1, 2023, and January 15, 2024.
The action was reportedly a component of Ghana's 10-year Beyond The Return initiative, aimed at inspiring Africans living abroad to visit and get in touch with their home country.
Proofreading by James Ojo Adakole, journalist and copy editor at Legit.ng.
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Source: Legit.ng
