South Africa carried its “We are open for business” message to Lagos Monday, saying it worked on easing the misery of Nigerians applying for visas into the country and that it will now issue long term visas of up to ten years to proven Nigerian businessmen.
Bobby Moroe, the South African Consul General announced this Monday at a roundtable with the Lagos business community, which was also addressed by Ntakuseni Lambani, head of immigration at the Consulate in the commercial capital. He said the offer places South Africa ahead of all other countries in Africa.
South Africa is also offering Nigerians immigration under the country’s critical skill work visa and those who get it and work for up to five years in the country will be given the opportunity to get full residency status thereafter.
Moroe said his country was keen to promote investment into South Africa by Nigerians and that visa applications under the country’s investor immigration category will be treated expeditiously.
The Consulate receives about 120 visa applications in Lagos daily, but business leaders have long been complaining about the dehumanizing treatment they suffer while applying for South African visas and it is expected that the new offer will ease that pain.
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“I am happy to announce to you that the government of South Africa has been reviewing its visa processes and a lot of improvements are being recorded. Today we can say that henceforth, we will be able to issue 10-year multiple entry visas to the business community in Nigeria.’” Said Moroe.
The Consul General acknowledged that mistakes had been made in the past, but said, “we have been listening and this session with you is a continuation of that process.
He also insisted that with the commencement of the issuance of visas for as long as three years recently, the feedback has been good.
Monday’s dialogue was the first in the series which will also involve a dialogue with members of Nigeria’s academia.
It is expected that with the offer of long-term visas, the number of applications will drop, and this should in turn cut the turn-around time for visa application.
