The Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Command of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has issued 38,000 visas on arrival (VoA) in the last one year, Daily Trust has learnt.
This emerges as the Comptroller-General of the service, Mr. Mohammed Babandede has given the approval for the expansion of the Visa-On-Arrival counters of the service at the airport which would accommodate 100 foreigners at a time, sources at the service told our correspondent on Wednesday.
The Visa on Arrival introduced last year is part of the ease of doing business initiative of the Federal Government which has succeeded in attracting ample foreign direct investments into the country.
It was gathered that the immigration command issues about 500 to 1,000 visas on arrival on a weekly basis.
In line with the initiative, a foreigner, instead of going to Nigerian mission in his country, could apply directly to the Comptroller General of Immigration who approves the visa which is issued to the applicant on arrival at the airport.
Since the introduction of the system, immigration officials at the Lagos airport, which is the busiest airport in the country, confirmed that the Visa on Arrival initiative has boosted ease of doing business.
An immigration official who spoke with our correspondent said, “For the past one year, we have focused on this visa on arrival issue which is very strategic to the ease of doing business initiative of the Federal Government.
“Passengers requiring visa on arrival are very happy with the initiative. It is very easy to obtain and it is seriously helping business.
“But this is not to say that it is being issued without any check. The people that have been issued the visas were subjected to rigorous background checks before the CGI acceded to their applications”.
Daily Trust reports that the Visa on Arrival is valid for one month and it can be extended provided the foreigner concerned gives genuine reason.
To streamline and monitor activities of immigration officers at the airport, it was learnt that the command had introduced name tags on the counters for all officers.
“This was done for easy identification of officers in case there is an issue to be sorted out”, the source added.
The service spokesman, DCI Sunday James said the Service is committed to safeguarding and protecting Nigerian borders while discharging its administrative and operational duties in line with international best practices and respect for the rights of migrants without compromising national security.
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