The federal government through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has advised Nigerians travelling to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to be guided by the new visa regime introduced by the UAE government.
With the new visa regime, the UAE has stopped issuing tourist visas to persons under the age of 40 years, except for those applying for family visas.
In a press release issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Abuja and signed by Francisca Omayuli, spokesperson Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that “the attention of the Federal government of Nigeria has been drawn to a video on social media, showing purportedly stranded Nigerians, who arrived the airport in Dubai UAE on 29th August 2022 but were denied entry into the country despite having valid visas.”
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Omayuli explained in the release that the Nigerian Mission in Dubai has clarified that most of the supposedly stranded Nigerians were issued with family visas only to arrive Dubai alone without any family member and consequently, they were denied entry and advised to return to their country and apply for the appropriate visas.
She further explained that those allowed entry into the country have their family members in the UAE, while those who claimed their family members were on another flight were told to wait at the airport, pending their arrival.
“It is therefore instructive for prospective visa applicants to indicate clearly their visa preferences without any ambiguity and also respect the immigration laws of other countries of other countries so as to avoid unwanted treatments,” Omayuli added
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