THE Government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has finally lifted visa restrictions placed on Nigerians with immediate effect.
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, disclosed this to journalists on Monday after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, headed by President Bola Tinubu.
According to Idris, an agreement has been reached between the Federal Government and the authorities in the United Arab Emirates to lift travel restrictions on Nigerians, effective immediately.
The minister disclosed that bearers of Nigerian passports can now enter the UAE without any problems.
In addition, Idris said that Nigerians interested in learning more about the most recent requirements for obtaining a UAE visa could go to documentverificationhub. ae
“You are aware that Nigeria has been discussing with the United Arab Emirates the issue of visas for Nigerian passport holders going to the United Arab Emirates.
“Today, an agreement has been reached on that, and effective from today 15th July, Nigerian passport holders are able to obtain visas to go to the United Arab Emirates.”
Two years before then, the UAE had banned Nigerians from entering the country due to several diplomatic issues.
In addition, Emirates Airlines of Dubai suspended service to Nigeria due to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s inability to transfer an estimated $85 million in earnings to the UAE.
The ICIR reported that Emirates Airlines said it decided to reduce the number of its weekly flights from Dubai to Lagos from 11 to seven due to issues of repatriation of its funds.
In a letter addressed to the former Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, Emirates stated it had attempted to repatriate $85 million it alleged was stuck in Nigeria.
The letter, signed by the Divisional Senior Vice President, Sheik Majid Al Mualla, said that due to the blocked funds, it would be cutting its flight frequencies from August 15, 2022.
The subsequent diplomatic crisis between Nigeria and the UAE over the frequency of Air Peace flights to the UAE and money owing to Emirates Airlines further worsened Nigeria’s situation.
Only one of Air Peace’s three weekly requests for flights to Sharjah Airport was approved by the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) of the United Arab Emirates.
Nigerian Airlines refuted the GCAA’s claim that Air Peace could not reasonably be expected to maintain its frequency of flights following its departure from Sharjah Airport.
Emirates, a Dubai-based airline, was forced to suspend all of its flights to Nigeria when the Nigerian federal government cut the firm’s flight slots from 21 to one.
In June Nigerians were given the assurance by the Federal authorities that the visa ban would be removed shortly after multiple talks with the UAE authorities.
The Nigerian government declared in the same month that it had paid 98 per cent of $850 million.
A reporter with the ICIR
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