DIASPORA CRIES - PASSPORT/VISA WOES
DIASPORA CRIES – PASSPORT/VISA WOES
Sometimes, you wonder why a simple process is made extremely
complex. Is it cause of education? I doubt that because we (Nigerians) have
overqualified people in their millions. Is it greed? Maybe - or can we just say
“lack of understanding the way things should
work in a modern day world.”
My name is Adedoyin Akinnurun, and let me itemize the
troubles you go through trying to get a Nigerian passport or VISA, if you are
living in the United States
Passport Process
·
Fill out the application form from the portal https://portal.immigration.gov.ng/pages/welcome
·
Make
the necessary payments online or pay by Credit Card
·
Print
the application form
·
Print
the payment receipt ( payment varies with age)
·
Make
a copy of your passport page
·
Visit
the nearest embassy to collect your passport. (Appear in Person)
o
There
are 3 embassies/consulates in the states
§ Atlanta
§ Washington DC
§ New York
Issues with Passport Processing
·
There are 50 states in the United States of
America. If you live in any of the 47
other states, you would have to travel to any of these three consulates to
apply and collect your passports.
·
The truth of the matter is not everyone can
appear at the embassy in person –
some might have health challenges, a few might be too old to travel and others
may just not have the funds to do it. I have seen mothers fly in with 5-day old
babies just to apply/collect passports at the embassy.
Simple Solution
·
For applicants that already have their
biometrics captured for e-passport. Just
provide a mail-in address, in which applicants mail their passports and all
other supporting documents needed for passport renewal. A self-addressed express envelope should be
paid for by applicants to get their passports back to them after processing.
·
For new birth, you can also use the mail in
approach, with extra requirements for parent’s passport, birth
certificate/proof of birth. A self-addressed express envelope should be paid
for by applicants to get their passports back to them after processing.
·
Those that need to visit embassies in person
should be for emergency travel needs such as
o
Travel certificate
o
Missing Passport
o
Fresh passport application
This simple modification would drastically decongest the
embassies with the number of foot traffic that pile in everyday trying to get
passports. This also would allow embassy/consulate officials do tangible
diplomatic work.
VISA Process
·
Make
the necessary payments online by Credit
Card (180 US dollars)
·
Print the application form
·
Print the payment receipt
·
Print the acknowledgement form
·
Appear in person at an OIS services center, with
all your supporting documents.
·
Pay another fee of 90 US dollars at the OIS center (Online Integrated
Solutions)
·
Biometrics is captured at this center
·
Wait for 5 business days before your visa is
ready.
Issues with Visa Processing
·
There are 50 states in the United States of
America. If you live in any of the 46
other states, you would have to travel to one of the OIS centers (Houston, Los
Angeles, New Jersey, Washington DC) for biometrics and collection of visas.
·
It cost a total of $270 US dollars to collect a Nigerian visa. I have traveled to a few
countries, I stand to be corrected but this looks like one of the most
expensive visas out there.
·
Why the use of a travel agent (OIS) to perform
the basic functions of an embassy/consulate. This middle man layer of OIS is not required
because from my understanding, the passports are still shipped to the Nigerian
embassy to get visa stampings on it.
·
If the Nigerian government keeps the statistics,
they would realize that a lot people collecting visas to visit Nigerians are
either Nigerians by Birth or by parentage or affiliations. Due to certain
unique reasons, it is easier for them to have all their travel information in
one passport.
·
This approach of applying for visas hinders
tourism. No sane person would go through this process to visit Nigeria on
tourism except he/she has strong ties with the country.
For Nigeria to grow, it needs to improve on
its tourism. The present process of getting visas for a tourist is tedious. We
can’t deny the fact that there are a thousand other tourist destination for a
neutral applicant (no ties to Nigeria) to visit.
Simple Solution
·
Visa at
Entry for those born in Nigeria – As long as your place of birth on your
current passport reads NIGERIA. There should be avenue for that individual to
receive his/her visa at the port of entry in Nigeria and pay the necessary
fees.
·
Visa at
Entry for children whose parents are Nigerians – As long as the applicant
(children) can proof that they are kids of Nigerian parents. It should be visa
at entry for people in this category.
·
Embassies should provide mail in services, where applicants mail in their passports and all
other supporting documents.
·
There is really no need for the middle man
company OIS. And if the Nigerian government decides to use them. They should be
deployed to the other 47 states that have no embassies/consulates.
Conclusion
It is no secret that Nigeria is reciprocating similar
actions provided by western nations on Nigerians by creating bottlenecks for
foreigners visiting Nigeria. The reality on ground right now is that such
measures taking by the Nigerian government is NOT affecting foreigners but
Nigerians at heart.
Statistics from 2016 shows that about $35 billion US dollars was remitted by Nigerians living abroad. This
is a huge chunk of the economy; the people donating this huge chunk should not
be punished by the same government with unnecessary bottlenecks while trying to
perform simple tasks such as visa renewal or passport renewal.
Thanks
Adedoyin
Akinnurun
Akinnurun@gmail.com
Maryland
(USA)
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