Ebun francis| President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday officially presented the Nigeria Visa Policy (NVP) for the year 2020 to the public.
The President who presented the document at the State House in Abuja, said the review of the visa policy is intended to attract innovation, specialised skills and knowledge from abroad to complement local ones.
According to him, the policy is to enhance business opportunities and achieve African integration through the visas on arrival for holders of passports of African Union countries.
There are 79 visa classifications in the revised policy, one of which is the Visa on arrival.
The new policy favours Africans with a valid passport who wish to come into the country for a short visit, for businesses, and for tourism, as the visa grants them legal stay for up to 90 days.
The policy also introduced a multiple-entry, multi-year visa for Nigerians by birth who had to renounce their citizenship.
In a tweet on Tuesday, Tolu Ogunlesi, special assistant to the President on digital/new media, said such visa is available to people who renounced their Nigerian status to become citizens of other countries.
Sportsmen, entertainers and journalists, wishing to visit Nigeria will also get single-entry, short-visit visas.
The tweet read, “If you’re a Nigerian by birth but have had to give up your citizenship because your new country doesn’t allow dual citizenship (China, Isreal, India etc), you are now eligible to get a multi-year, multiple entry visa that allows you to visit Nigeria easily.”
“[Israelis by birth can acquire dual citizenships but people acquiring Israeli citizenship by naturalization — which is what would apply to a Nigerian who acquires Israeli citizenship — must first renounce their original citizenship].
“Nigeria today launched special Short Visa classes (single entry) for the following categories of people: journalists, clerics, sportspeople, artists/entertainers/musicians, religious tourists, humanitarian workers, etc.”
Leave a Reply