In brief
Three months after the Federal Government of Nigeria requested foreign missions in the country to fast-track visa processing, most of the missions are struggling to meet the 72-hour deadline.

Majority of Foreign Missions in Nigeria are still struggling to meet Federal Government’s 72-hour deadline for issuance of visas to Nigerian applicants, it was revealed over the week.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Olugbenga Ashiru, had three months ago made strong representations to foreign missions in Nigeria, at a meeting with foreign envoys requesting expedited processing of visa applications by Nigerians with a three day deadline for visa delivery.

Gbenga Ashiru

Ambassador Ashiru had warned of reciprocal treatment from Nigerian missions abroad if Nigerian visa applicants continued to be subjected to endless delays in the processing and delivery of travel visas.

Investigations by Sunday Vanguard in Abuja, location of majority of foreign missions in Nigeria, revealed that the earliest date for visa delivery for most applicants is between two to three weeks – some times even longer.

Findings further revealed that, the types of visa applied for and the procedure for processing each application determine the time limit for delivery of visa.

Responding to Sunday Vanguard enquiries, the British High Commission explained its handicap in meeting the 72-hour deadline, citing the processes involved in treating each category of visa.

In a telephone chat with Sunday Vanguard, Head of Information in the High Commisssion, Hooman Nouruzi, said it could not put a time frame to the earliest it could deliver visa, despite the preference for 72 hours by the Nigerian Government.

Feelers from the US Embassy however revealed that, despite the Minister’s warning, the Embassy is guided strictly by the US State Department regulations in the issuance of travel visas to the United States.

An embassy official who did not want to be named insisted that, “ No nation dictates to another, the time limit for processing visa applications”, citing the US State Department Visa Policy. The source is right.

According to the December 2011, US State Department Visa Bulletin over concerns of undue delays in visa delivery, “Recent changes in U.S. laws governing visa policy and procedures have increased the amount of time it can take to obtain a visa”, it stated.

“Even with the visa processing improvements that have been made and will continue to be made, it is inevitable that delays will sometimes occur. The State Department’s goal is to ensure visa delivery is no more than 30 days from the time of application in most cases, although cases that require administrative processing could take longer. Most administrative processing is resolved within 60 days of application” the Bulletin added.