FG reviews visa requirements to ease business

The Federal Government has reviewed visa processes for foreigners wishing to visit Nigeria for business and tourism purposes.

The move is aimed at removing bureaucratic bottleneck and to encourage business travellers and tourists, Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed said in a statement yesterday.

He said the review is part of action plan for the ease of doing business as well as efforts to boost tourism, within the overall context of government’s economic diversification agenda.

Mohammed said Business Visas are available for visitors for meetings, conferences, seminars, contract negotiation, marketing, sales, purchase and distribution of Nigerian goods, trade fairs, job interviews, training of Nigerians, emergency/relief work, crew members, staff of NGOs, staff of INGOs, researchers and musical concerts.

He said “The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has reviewed the requirements for Nigerian visas to make them more customer friendly, and details of this review are available on the NIS official website, ww.immigration.gov.ng. Types of visas currently reviewed include Visa on Arrival (VoA) processes, Business Visas, Tourist Visas and Transit Visas.”

The minister said re-issuance of passports for change of names due to marital reasons or lost cases have been decentralized to all State Commands and Foreign Missions to save passport holders from additional costs.

“Additional 28 offices have been opened for issuance of Residence Permits in Nigeria, bringing the issuance of Combined Expatriate Residence Permit And Aliens Cards (CERPAC) closer to the doorstep of employers of expatriates at all 36 states and FCT,’’ he added.