The United Arab Emirates has lifted a 21-month long visa ban on Nigerians.
Mohammed Idris, Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, stated on Monday that “mutually beneficial negotiations” between the two governments led to the UAE’s decision to suspend the ban, which has been in effect since October 2022.
“Updated controls and conditions” that prospective Nigerian travellers to the UAE must adhere to were mentioned by him.
Travelers will need to provide documentation of their identification and past travel history, among other things, in order to receive a verification number that would be used to apply for a visa. A government website in Emirati states that applicants who are 13 years of age or younger are eligible for an exception.
The UAE’s prohibition was based on several grounds, such as claims of unethical behavior and attempts to get around visa requirements. When Emirates Airlines’ flights to Nigeria were reduced from 21 times per week to only one, the dispute intensified. It was purportedly done in retaliation to the UAE only permitting one weekly trip and refusing to permit Nigerian airline Air Peace to fly to Dubai three times a week.
Due to its incapacity to repatriate earnings worth tens of millions of dollars, Emirates ceased operating flights to Nigeria in late 2022. However, in an attempt to break the deadlock, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu started holding meetings with officials as soon as he took office in May 2023, including the president of Emirati, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Emirates announced in May that it would start operating daily flights between Lagos and Dubai later this year, in October, which came before the embargo was lifted last week.
“The Lagos-Dubai service has traditionally been popular with customers in Nigeria,” Adnan Kazim, deputy president and chief commercial officer for Emirates said in May. A feature of the resumption of the service is that Emirates will offer “more than 300 tonnes” of weekly cargo capacity in its passenger aircrafts’ lower deck in and out of Lagos.
