NIS issues 2,194 Visas on Arrival in July at Lagos airport

U.S sends security agents to assess Lagos airport amidst global security threats

The Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) has issued out 2,194 Visas on Arrival during the month of July 2019 at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, (MMIA).

Businessday’s checks show that this figure represents an increase of over 30 percent visas on arrival the service issues out on the average every month.

The visa on arrival which is targeted at business people and investors has seen applicants apply online and get responses in less than 48 hours.

A source close to the service told Buisnessday that the service was able to record this huge milestone as a result of the service’s dedication to training and retraining of its staff, robust digital facilities and it low tolerance for corruption.

“Abdullahi Musta Usman, the new Comptroller of Immigration, Nigeria Immigration Service, MMIA has a goal to consistently train and retrain its staff which he has actualized by establishing a training room at the e-arrival point at the airport, which accommodates about 20 people at a time. The Comptroller insists that immigration officers be trained and retrained consistently because their

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job is dynamic.

“We have a SAVICOM centre at the Lagos airport where passengers who have issues come to complain and we help them resolve the issues. Anti-corruption desk has also been inaugurated at the airport in a bid to ensure service delivery and ease of doing business,” the source said.

The source hinted that visa on arrival has become very flexible as applicants can sit down in the comfort of their homes and apply and approval will be sent within a time-frame of 48 hours, adding that there is no third party interference in the process.

On how the service hope to tackle overstay of visitors, the source said the service do not have control over the stay of visitors in Nigeria but the service issues visitors business visas that last for 30 days and if visitors want to extend their stay over business reasons, they can go to the nearest immigration office and apply for extension.

The source also assured that mechanisms have been put in place to avoid human trafficking at the airport and by next year, technology will be upgraded at the Lagos airport to ease travel experience.

Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha

Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha is the Aviation Correspondent at BusinessDay Media Limited, publishers of BusinessDay Newspapers. She is also the Deputy Editor, BusinessDay Weekender Magazine, the Saturday Weekend edition of BusinessDay. She holds a BSC in Mass Communication from the prestigious University of Nigeria, Nsukka and a Masters degree in Marketing at the University of Lagos. As the lead writer on the aviation desk, Ifeoma is responsible and in charge of the three weekly aviation and travel pages in BusinessDay and BDSunday. She also overseas and edits all pages of BusinessDay Saturday Weekender. She has written various investigative, features and news stories in aviation and business related issues and has been severally nominated for award in the category of Aviation Writer of the Year by the Nigeria Media Nite-Out awards; one of the Nigeria’s most prestigious media awards ceremonies. Ifeoma is a one-time winner of the prestigious Nigeria Media Merit Award under the 'Aviation Writer of the Year' Category. She is the 2025 Eloy Award winner under the Print Media Journalist category. She has undergone several journalism trainings by various prestigious organisations. Ifeoma is also a fellow of the Female Reporters Leadership Fellowship of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism.