UAE Reverses Visa Restriction on Nigeria
The United Arab Emirates have agreed to resume Visa issuance to Nigerians. This was made known by Hadi Sirika, Minister of Aviation on his Twitter account.
Sirika stated that Nigeria has also permitted the operation of Emirates Airlines in Nigeria.
He noted that part of the condition for lifting the visa restriction, was to allow Emirates Airlines operations in Nigeria.
“UAE has written to state that they have agreed to issue visas to Nigerians, consequently a decision has been reached to allow Emirates to fly into Nigeria.
“Commencement of the Visa issuance is condition precedent. Please bear with this unusual situation . Many thanks.”
Recalled that the federal government had banned Emirates Airlines from Lagos and Abuja airports over alleged refusal to grant fresh visa applications submitted by Nigerians.
UAE had earlier said travel between the UAE and Nigeria was limited due to the closure of the Nigerian airspace.
The country denied they had imposed a restriction on the issuance of visas to Nigerian visitors, saying, “At the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, the UAE took a number of precautionary measures to combat the virus spread, including the temporary suspension on issuing UAE visas to all nationalities as of March 17, 2020.
“After entering the recovery phase of the pandemic, the UAE eased some measures on July 7, permitting visitors from various countries to adhere to the necessary precautionary measures, including by showing negative PCR test result within 92 hours of travelling to the UAE. This include those visiting from Nigeria.
“However, travel between the UAE and Nigeria has remained limited due to the closure of the Nigerian airspace.”
