Visa
By Sumaila Ogbaje
Abuja, April 24, 2018 (NAN) Nigerian Immigration Service has cleared and issued visa to over 2,000 international visitors on arrival at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, between Monday and Tuesday.
The spokesperson for the Nigerian Immigration Service, Mr Sunday James, confirmed to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that many of the visitors were in the country to attend the ongoing ID4Africa conference.
James disclosed that over 2,000 visitors had so far been cleared and issued visa, adding that about 1,500 visas were issued to visitors on arrival on Monday alone.
He said that the laid down procedures required the immigration service to carry out thorough screening on the passengers in collaboration with other security agencies.
“So far, over 2,000 visitors have been cleared and issued visa and about 1,500 were processed on Monday and there could still be more.
“It is a routine kind of assignment, which they have been doing; it is not something new, because the procedure requires a passenger to be thoroughly screened.
“There are about four clearance points and there are things that take place on the desks, apart from the passenger filling the arrival form.
“There are officers that go through the documents submitted vis-à-vis the original documents before them to cross check.
“Then, they also try to confirm whether the individual is not on any of our lists: the watch list, stop list or suspect index.
“If there is no local objection they now pass the person to the payment point and the passenger makes necessary payment for the visa on arrival.
“However, the Comptroller General has insisted that payment should be done with POS and that has been complied with.
“The whole process takes maximum of five minutes to complete and it can be less,” he said.
When the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), visited the airport on Tuesday, hundreds of international passengers were seen waiting to receive their visas upon arrival.
An official of the airport, who pleaded anonymity, said the airport had received about 2,000 visitors who were receiving their visas on arrival with the NIS.
The official said it was in line with the implementation of the Executive Order on ease of doing business from the Federal Government.
According to him, many of the visitors have been arriving since Monday for the ID4Africa international conference making the immigration point to be very busy.
NAN recalls that order 001 directed that visas on arrival should be granted at all Nigerian ports of entry once applicants have met all the published requirements.
The order also directed that processing of issuance of visas on arrival should be carried out in a transparent manner.(NAN)
OYS /AFA
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Edited by Felix Ajide