The Ministry of Interior has revealed its plan to review the nation’s immigration and visa policy to meet global standards.
This information was disclosed by the Federal Minister of Interior, Olubumi Tunji-Ojo when he received the Chairman and Management of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) on a courtesy visit to his office in Abuja.
Tunji-Ojo noted that with the support of key stakeholders, the ministry would review the immigration and visa policy of the country to align with current realities and ease immigration processes for Nigerians in Nigeria and those in the diaspora.
What to expect from the immigration policy review
The minister explained that the review of the nation’s immigration policy would be based on the principle of reciprocity as found in international law.
He further stated any country that grants Nigerians visas on arrival, Nigeria would treat its citizens the same way.
- In his words, “We are reviewing our immigration policy, I sincerely believe that the immigration policy of any nation not just Nigeria must be based on the principle of reciprocity as found in international law. And I also believe that Nigeria should not be a dumping ground because this is not a dump site.
- “I believe that the majority of people who come to Nigeria, come for economic reasons not just for tourism. we need to strengthen our visa regime, if it’s tourism, nothing stops you within two days from making decisions about some of those things. But if you want to come and work, then of course we must, by all means, take our time to do our due diligence security profiling, because as much as we want people to be comfortable we must also not sacrifice national security.
- “We must balance both if they are areas, especially in the diaspora where also we can look at the possibility of also seeing what can be done to also help the financial situation”, the minister stated.
Plan to increase the number of passport printing machines in London
Tunji-Ojo also spoke on the delays and long-distance Nigerians in the Diaspora had to travel before being captured for their passports.
He noted that the ministry intends to increase the number of printing machines in London to four to better serve more people in the United Kingdom.
- “We need to increase the passport printing machine from two to four in London because our capacity per day in London has increased and not just London but the whole of the UK. You can only do 800 per day and when you have thousands of Nigerians it becomes a problem, even when you increase to 4 it means you can only do 1600 per day, still not enough. You must also understand that your passport is a security document, so is not what the private sector should do. printing and issuance of passports is the responsibility of Immigration services,” Dr Tunji-Ojo said.