The federal government has introduced a new policy to crack down on visa overstayers, with penalties including daily fines and potential bans from re-entering Nigeria.
Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, minister of interior, announced the new measures during a stakeholders’ meeting in Lagos on Friday.
The event, held at NECA House, focused on ongoing immigration reforms, including updates on the expatriate quota system and the Nigeria visa policy (NVP) 2025.
The minister announced that from August, the government will impose a daily fine of $15 on foreign nationals who overstay their visas.
He added that foreigners who overstay for three months will receive a five-year re-entry ban, while those who overstay for a year or more will be banned from returning to Nigeria.
Tunji-Ojo said although the penalties are set to take effect in May 2025, the government will allow a three-month grace period until August before enforcement begins.
This window, according to him, is intended to give visa holders time to regularise their status or make necessary travel arrangements without penalty.
“From first of August, anybody that does not take advantage of the amnesty period of three months, penalty will come,” the minister said.
“But if you take advantage of that window to regularise, we will not charge you. Because the whole idea is not to punish you, the whole idea is for us to regularise. Let’s know the people that are actually in Nigeria.
“From first of August, if you (-) it’s $15 dollars per day and if you have stayed more than three months, five years, abeg we don’t need violators in Nigeria.
“And if you have stayed more than one year without coming forward during the amnesty period, abeg don’t come to Nigeria again for life.”
The minister also announced plans to fully digitalize the process of obtaining the Combined Expatriate Residence Permit and Aliens Card (CERPAC).
The move, according to him, aims to simplify the application process for foreign nationals residing and working in Nigeria.
Tunji-Ojo added that the digitalised process will allow foreign nationals to fill and submit CERPAC applications online, eliminating the need for manual forms.
He said payments for CERPAC can also be made online, streamlining the process.
The minister added that the digitalised CERPAC process is set to go live on May 1, with a link available on the NIS website.
“On issue of the CERPAC. Do not be scared. We are not increasing your CERPAC fee. To me, let us sanitise the system. That’s the first thing,” he said.
“We are automating it end to end. Because as it is today, the procedure is that you have to go to buy a form. When you buy a form, you pay at the bank, and take the form to CERPAC centre. There’s no country in the world that does that.
“Your CERPAC will be filled online. Payments will be done online. Immigration will review at the bank end.
“And if you know you have criminal issues, do not apply for CERPAC. Because we are integrating the CERPAC solution with Interpol 24/7 and all other criminal systems. So that Nigeria will not be a safe haven for somebody that they are looking for all over the world. This place is not safe for you. Go back.
“So, everything, you can do it with the comfort of your office. And by our laws, we are going to be holding employers responsible from the foundations. It’s the way it’s done all over the world. It is the employers that will hold employees. My business is with you, business owners.
“We’ve been working on this for months, if not over a year, looking at the way it’s done all over the world, best practices, and everything.”
