My Nigeria Visa on Arrival Experience

nigeria visa on arrival experience

Here are Nigeria visa on arrival experiences shared by foreign visitors to Nigeria. Do read before making plans to visit Nigeria.

My Nigeria Visa on Arrival Experience

 

Experience 1.

Am into importation and exportation of agro products in Malaysia. Well, after my research online, I found out that I can purchase a large quantity of ginger and garlic from Nigeria at a reasonable rate. So I contacted an agro company in Nigeria whose resume looked genuine enough. After a lot of business talks, I decided to travel to Nigeria to see things for myself and for possible negotiations.  I didn’t know where the Nigerian embassy was in India so I did what is normal – I went on the internet. I found the Nigerian Embassy alright but also noticed that the embassy was very far away from where I stay.

That was a problem. I didn’t know how to plan my job to fit into going to the Nigerian embassy that was 8 hours away. Lucky for me, I also noticed that the Nigerian Immigration Service also offers the visa on arrival program for foreigners with a peculiar case like mine. 

One of the options I found on the Nigeria Immigration Service is that I could send all my personal information, documents and purpose for travel directly to the Nigeria Immigration service. So within 20 minutes, I did. And I waited to hear from them. 1 week, 2 weeks, 1 month…….. I never heard a word from them.

 

I went online again, I got their customer care number and called them to know whether my visa application was approved or rejected. The fellow who picked up just told me that they were working on the visa application. Well, I kept hearing this same excuse for another one month. 2 weeks to the date of my proposed arrival in Nigeria. I stumbled on an article from a website www.travelvisa.ng.

 

They claimed they could help me process and facilitate my Nigeria visa on arrival application. Well, I had nothing to lose so I took their lead visa agent’s number and gave him a phone call and an introduction of myself on whatsapp. He said that that if I will send him my information and documents, he will deliver my visa on arrival approval letter in my email within 48 hours.

 

48 hours? I couldn’t believe this! The Nigerian Immigration Service couldn’t get my visa on arrival approval ready within 3 months but here is this guy claiming he can get it processed and delivered within 48 hours! that’s really insane… So after much deliberation,  talks and much more thinking on my side, I decided to give him a shot. I paid my visa fees, transactional and service charges via www.transferwise.com (AND yes I also gave him my personal information and documents).

 

With my fingers crossed, I waited to see what result he will come up with. I practically hoped for the best yet expected the worst.

 

Almost  2 days later I received and email from the Nigeria Immigration service. Attached to this email was my visa on arrival approval letter. This is a screenshot of that email:

my nigeria visa on arrival experience

WOW! THIS GUY MUST KNOW HIS ONIONS. I was really excited, pleased and a lot of relief too.

He didn’t just help me with the visa on arrival approval letter, evidence of visa fee payment and the acknowledgement slip from the NIS but he also booked me into a hotel in Nigeria and made sure I was picked up at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport Lagos in Nigeria by a special airport taxi.

 

Arrival to Nigeria

On my arrival to Lagos Nigeria, it was sunny and a very welcoming day but I think that I was over dressed for the weather so I had to take off my leather jacket.

 

Next, we foreigners picked up our luggage and were directed to form a queue at the visa on arrival desk of the Nigeria immigration service. We were to show our VOA letter, receipt of visa fee payment and acknowledgement slip to the NIS officials. It was really a long queue and I had to wait 30 minutes for it to get to my turn. Looking around and doing a head count, I found out that there were almost 150 foreigners like me, different countries, languages, ages….. How can so much people visit Nigeria in just one day? I wondered…

 

Well, when it came to my turn, I handed over all my visa application documents and my passport. After verifying my documents and comparing my information with the information I suppose they have on their computer, passport was stamped with a 30 days entry visa and I was allowed to leave.

 

At the departure terminal, I was welcomed by the protocol officer (courtesy of www.travelvisa.ng). I was ushered into a waiting vehicle and taken on a smooth ride to my hotel. That ends my Nigeria visa on arrival experience. As for my stay in Nigeria, it was awesome but that’s a story for another day. Before I forget, if you want to have a smooth Nigeria visa on arrival experience, contact Mr. Uzor at +2347033378184. That’s his WhatsApp number too. You can also reach him via email: travelvisanig@gmail.com. He is effective, efficient and very detailed.


Listen to Our Audio My Nigeria Visa on Arrival Experiences Here

 

Experience 2.

I must say “kudos” to Travelvisa.Ng for expediting the Nigeria visa process and having my Nigerian visa approval letter out within 48 hours.

 

About my Nigeria visa on arrival experience; I have visited Nigeria twice in the last 12 months and my experiences were totally different on each occasion.

 

The first time I travelled to Nigeria , I was issued a letter from the computer general of the immigration  which stated that I was to pay my visa fees at the port of entry in Nigeria. so I printed out my flight and hotel booking and transferred funds to my MasterCard for the intended visa fee payment at my entry airport in Nigeria.

 

Fast forward to the “D” day, I arrived the Nnamdi Azikwe International airport Abuja, after checking out my luggage, I and a crowd of other foreigners were led to the visa desk of the Nigeria immigration. Mehn! We spent ages in taking turns to fill out a form and make the visa fees payment. I actually left the Abuja airport about 2 hours after my flight had touched down. If I didn’t have Mr. Uzor personally pick me up at the airport at that time of the day I would have been worried sick.

 

3 months later, I was to visit Nigeria again! Naturally, I was scared of having to stand in line for hours at my arrival airport in Nigeria. when I called Mr. Uzor to tell him about my plans to visit Nigeria again, I got some good news ; that there was a “nice policy change about the VOA letter from the Nigeria Immigration. Now, I can fill out my visa application online and also make payment for my visa fees online as well. Yippee! Now that’s a lifesaving policy. Naturally, I sent all my documents to travelvisanig@gmail.com and sent my fund to Mr Uzor through www.transferwise.com.

 

Within 48 hours, my visa application was approved and a confirmation letter sent to me email. The best part is that upon my arrival at the Nigerian airport, I spent just about 15 minutes with the immigration desk and I was out. Thank goodness I didn’t have to wait around for forever this time. I also thank the Nigerian Immigration service for being proactive by solving the delay problem at the airport. More power to your elbow.


 

Experience 3.

Travelvisa.ng made it all happen for me. I needed to get into Nigeria pretty fast for a business conference and also visit the SCOAN church in Lagos Nigeria. Travelvisa,ng did not just get me the approval letter 7 days to me trip but they helped me check into a hotel that is within the same district as the church so I was 10 minutes away from the church.

 

I did not experience any trouble at the Lagos airport. I had a very polite immigration officials helping me through the entire process and I was out in no time, however, on my trip back to the States, some of my belongs in my luggage was stolen at my stopover in Dubai. It’s okay, they probably needed those stuffs badly. They are just things, I’m glad I could help.

 

Asides that little hiccup on my return trip, I really enjoyed my trip to Nigeria and the professionalism of the Nigerian visa agent who helped me.

 

One word of advice; always keep your luggage locked with a pad lock while travelling. Cus if I did, I wouldn’t have lost those items. It could have been worse. I could have been indirectly used as a mule to move illicit drugs back to the States. Be warned people. Cheers.

 

My Nigeria Visa on Arrival Experience © www.travelvisa.ng

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

WANT TO CALL US? ClickHere!