Eleven months ago, the Nigerian Immigration Service(NIS) disclosed its intentions to embark on visa reforms by introducing new categories of visas to tourists, Nigerian retirees living abroad, and visas for incentive or investors. The Comptroller-General of Immigration (CGI), Mohammad Babandede explained this would attract people with money and intellectual capacity to assist in nation-building.
As a quick win, we promised to make the prices of passport available to the public to see and read the price and pay for it. One of the quick wins we have done is to standardize the operations of the passport, we want Nigerians to know the process of getting a passport and visa on the passport.
So it is not just the reforms, but what is in the reforms is for greater service delivery. The important thing is that in each reform we do, we consider national security.
Yesterday, the Federal government announced the implementation of the New Visa Policy (NVP) and New Visa Fees which is based on the principles of reciprocity. The statement from the Nigerian Immigration Service reads:
The Comptroller General of Nigerian Immigration Service, Muhammad Babandede, MFR, wishes to inform the general public and the international community of the new visa fees approved by the Minister of Interior, Mr Ra’uf Aregbesola, which is based on the principles of reciprocity. The Comptroller General is inviting stakeholders, concerned authorities and individuals to visit the official website of the Service via www.immigration.gov.ng for full details of the new visa fees for all countries and categories of applicants
The Federal Government had earlier launched a New Visa Policy on February 4, 2020, to improve the nation’s economy and allow travelers to visit Nigeria without visas and only commence the process of obtaining a visa upon arrival into the country.