On Friday, the Federal Government announced plans to abolish the visa-on-arrival policy.
Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, shared the decision during the closing ceremony of a weeklong capacity-building training for Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) personnel. This training is part of the NIS’s efforts to better document individuals visiting the country.
The visa-on-arrival policy, introduced by former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration in 2020, allowed for short-stay visas to be issued at the point of entry.
Tunji-Ojo explained that, in place of the visa-on-arrival policy, the government would introduce landing and exit cards that visitors must pre-fill before arriving in Nigeria.
He stressed the importance of harmonizing the immigration data center and implementing integrated solutions for migration-related decisions.
This system would ensure that approvals cannot be granted without clearance from agencies like Interpol and criminal record systems, enabling real-time background checks.
“Security is not something where we can be 99.9% correct; it has to be 100%,” Tunji-Ojo emphasized. “It’s better to base decisions on objectivity than subjectivity,” he added, stating that the visa-on-arrival system, which he believes is ineffective, would be replaced with this new approach.
He further clarified that, while landing and exit cards are currently used manually, they would be digitized in 2025, as technology must now play a central role.
