The Nigeria Immigration Service at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos has disclosed that it issues between 500 to 1000 visa-on-arrival daily to foreign investors and tourists.
A senior official from the Command who spoke on the condition of anonymity told THISDAY that visa was made open to enhance ease of doing business policy of the federal government and it is targeted at investors, businessmen and tourists.
He said such requests are made to the Comptroller General of Immigration.
The official said that requirements needed for the federal government to issue visa on arrival to applicants include a letter from a reputable company to the Comptroller General on behalf of the applicant, a business permit, certificate of business incorporation, airline ticket, approval letter and evidence of payment for the visa.
The applicant seeking for visa is usually subjected to security checks to ensure that such a person is not a security threat, especially now there is warning on ISIS.
The Immigration official said visa on arrival issued to investors has maximum duration of one month.
The official also disclosed that Immigration gives visa on arrival for babies born overseas if one of their parents is Nigerians.
“Visa on arrival is to encourage foreigners who come to do business in Nigeria. It is part of the policy of ease of doing business and since it started foreign investors have been taking advantage of it and we make sure that only the people targeted are given the visa,” the official said.
On the issue of biometrics which was introduced and later stopped by the Immigration, the official said that the suspension of biometrics is temporary; noting that until enough sensitization is done the process would not be reintroduced.
Nigerian Immigration Service however decried the attitude of many Nigerians who just fly out of the country without purpose, disclosing that hundreds of such Nigerians are deported back to the country regularly.
The official said that after spending huge amount of money to leave the country, the person is deported and the money lost, adding that such monies expended are enough to start business in Nigeria.
“If you see the rate of deportation you will shed tears. Everyday Nigerians are deported from different parts of the world and they are brought back with nothing. Some of them have spent many years overseas and they usually come back with nothing. But what surprises us is that after they are deported they still want to go back,” the official said.
THISDAY learnt that such deportees are issued Emergency Travel Document (ETD), which is usually seized by Immigration on arrival.
Also the passport of deportees is taking over by Immigration for about five years
“The passport of anybody deported is withdrawn by the federal government. This is in accordance to Immigration Act. So it technically becomes a government document for some time. However, the passport is not anybody’ document; it is government’s government, which can be withdrawn if there is any infraction,” the Immigration official said.
On alleged extortion by Immigration officials at the Lagos airport, the official said that those days of “roll back” activities have gone; that the new administration has cleaned out the system.
“Now we have personalized tags with encoding to identify any official. This is part of the improvements done by the new administration. We have surveillance officers. Each officer has his name plate. This is made to identify anybody in case of breaches. Everything is working better now compared to the past. We are more transparent and more efficient,” the official said.
Immigration added that there is mutual relationship and cooperation among security agencies at the airport, including the Nigerian Customs Service, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Aviation Security, Quarantine and others.
