Stricter immigration penalties have been declared by the federal government, which warns that foreign nationals who overstay their visas for more than six months will be prohibited from entering the country for five years, and those who overstay for a year would be prohibited from entering for ten years.
Additionally, overstayers will be subject to a $15 daily punishment commencing on August 1, 2025, from the specified exit date of the visa.
The declaration was made by Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo on Friday at the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association House in Ikeja, Lagos, during a meeting with the Organized Private Sector and other stakeholders.
On May 1, 2025, Tunji-Ojo will announce the Ministry of Interior’s new Expatriate Administration System, which will include a number of reforms.
The Electronic Visa, Expatriate Comprehensive Insurance, automated Landing and Exit Cards, and an updated Combined Expatriate Resident Permit and Alien Card are some of the impending revisions.
A redesigned expatriate quota system, a temporary work permit, and a temporary resident visa are among the other modifications.
According to Tunji-Ojo, the changes are intended to reduce visa overstays and gather precise information on foreigners living in Nigeria.
He emphasized the need for precise statistics to facilitate successful planning, pointing out that existing records reflect fewer than 50,000 expatriates, which he labeled as erroneous.
Landing and Exit Cards will be automated under the new system. These cards must now be filled out online by expatriates.
“You must leave the country on or before the date that your visa expires, and you must apply for extensions from outside of Nigeria,” he stated. With penalties that include a five-year ban for six-month overstays and a 10-year ban for one-year overstays, in addition to the $15 daily cost, the automated approach will assist in tracking overstayers.
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Before the penalties fully take effect in August 2025, expats will have three months starting on May 1 to regularize their status.
On May 1, the new Electronic Visa system will also be launched, enabling applicants to receive visas in as little as 48 hours.
The previous visa-on-arrival system, which was susceptible to influence-peddling and corruption, has been replaced with this new one.
Tunji-Ojo underlined that the e-visa system will facilitate chances without the obstacles of the previous procedure, making it simpler for authorized visitors and business travelers to enter Nigeria.
Furthermore, it will now be required to have an Expatriate Comprehensive Insurance insurance. According to Tunji-Ojo, this strategy was put in place to handle the government’s yearly repatriation costs, which have continuously beyond budgetary allotments. The insurance will lessen the financial strain on the government by paying for defaulters’ repatriation expenses.
Additionally, the CERPAC procedure will be entirely automated without any fee increases. In order to improve the tracking of criminals and anyone with dubious motives, the system will be integrated with Interpol. Additionally, companies will now be responsible for their foreign workers’ immigration offenses.
