Changes to Nigeria visa applications

THE Consulate General of
Nigeria in Johannesburg has
announced several changes to
visa applications made through
its service partner.
All categories of visa
applications submitted via
Online Integrated Solutions
(OIS), will now be processed
by the consulate within 48
hours. This means applicants
could expect their visas within
72 hours.
Previously, standard visa
applications took seven
working days, while express
visas, which were intended for
urgent travel, took two to three
working days for the consulate
to process.
Secondly, all visa applicants
(business and leisure) will only
pay the standard visa service
fee. The ‘Express Service
Visa’, which came at a higher
fee for urgent visa applications,
has been scrapped.
However, visa applications
made at the High Commission
in Pretoria will still take five
working days to be processed
and issued to the applicant.
TNW previously reported
that the Nigerian Immigration
Service (NIS) launched a
48-hour visa-on-arrival system
(VoA) on March 23.
Applications for the VoA
can only be made online
through NIS. The VoA is
intended for among others,
frequent business travellers
and members of government
delegations, it is not for leisure
purposes. Successful VoA
applicants receive an approval
letter within 48 hours, which
must be presented at the port
of entry. The approval letter is
only valid for 14 days after it
is issued.
Single-entry visas cost
US$58 (R752) while multiple
entry visas cost US$103
(R1 336). An additional
service fee of US$20
(R259) is applicable to all
applications.