FG advises Nigerian travellers to UAE on new visa regime -

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

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.