Nigeria biometric visa fees explained

Online Integrated Solutions (OIS), the official visa application authority and biometrics service provider for Nigeria, has clarified that the visa application fee is separate from the biometric enrolment fee.

It said there is “an apparent misconception” about the ongoing issue of the introduction of biometric visa enrolment charges for foreigners arriving in Nigeria at Lagos and Abuja international airports.

The “major issue in contention”, it said, is the stipulated $90 (around Dh330) biometric visa fee and $20 (around Dh73) processing fee, which are payable on arrival to the service providers engaged by the government of Nigeria.

The $90 biometric visa enrolment fee charged by the service provider was approved by government to enable the company “to recoup its huge investment in the scheme”. The Nigerian government takes 35 per cent of the $90.

The challenge, the statement said, comes when visitors who would not qualify for “the stringent requirements” of the visa-on-arrival programme “flood the Nigerian airports” without first going to the enrolment centres in their countries to make the required biometric enrolment.

The biometric enrolment fee is charged irrespective of whether the capture was done abroad or locally.

The $20 charge is also approved by the government for the collection of all fees and revenues for Nigerian passport and visa in all regions of the world.