THE Qatari Ministry of Interior has dismissed claims that it had introduced broad visa restrictions on Nigerian passport holders, including an alleged ban targeting male applicants.
A ministry official made the remark on Wednesday when speaking with BBC Pidgin on Wednesday.
The official said, “There are no restrictions on Nigerians seeking to visit Qatar,” stressing that the visa application process remained unchanged.
“There has been no suspension or changes to the current procedures. If any updates are to be made, they will be announced on our official platforms,” the country’s digital visa platform, Hayya, also stated.
The clarification followed the confusion sparked by a flyer from TravelTank, a Nigerian travel agency, which listed what it claimed were new visa requirements for Nigerians travelling to Qatar.
According to the flyer, the alleged changes included compulsory booking of return transfers with hotel reservations, limiting eligibility to women and families, and requiring applicants to book only 5-star hotels to qualify for a visa.
The flyer claimed that “These requirements apply to all pending visa approvals,” and advised clients to adhere to them to prevent delays or denials.
The notice linked the alleged changes to repeated incidents of Nigerian visitors overstaying their visas, claiming Qatari authorities were tightening entry rules to enforce stricter compliance with immigration regulations.
The ICIR reported in July that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) introduced tougher entry requirements for Nigerian travellers to Dubai, including a ban on transit visa applications, nearly a year after the UAE and Nigeria settled a two-year visa ban previously imposed on Nigerians.
Agents familiar with the new directive from Dubai Immigration said that transit visa applications would no longer be accepted, following a review of the visa process for Nigerians.
Nanji is an investigative journalist with the ICIR. She has years of experience in reporting and broadcasting human angle stories, gender inequalities, minority stories, and human rights issues. She has documented sexual war crimes in armed conflict, sex for grades in Nigerian Universities, harmful traditional practices and human trafficking.