By  Emeka Aginam

While foreign Missions in Nigeria battle the activities of touts in interfering in visa application processes, the Acting Consul General, Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany in Nigeria, Jörg Steckhan has disclosed that security gaps have been eliminated and possibilities for touts to interfere have been reduced to the barest minimum in online booking system for visa appointments as introduced in December 2012.

The Consul General in a e-mail to Vanguard Hi-Tech said that the system was introduced to facilitate the booking of appointments and to organize the allocation of appointments more efficiently.

“The current system is an amended version of the online booking system which was in place until 2009. Security gaps have been eliminated and possibilities for touts to interfere have been reduced to a minimum extend.

“The current online appointment booking system is based on a software of the Federal Foreign Office of Germany which is used worldwide. However, not every German mission is using the online booking system, depending on regional requirements and local demand for visa appointments” he explained.

When booking an appointment, he further explained that each applicant is required to state full name, passport number and email address, after which the applicant will receive an automatic confirmation email with the appointment date and time which he/she has to present at the entrance gate in order to be admitted to the premises of the Consulate General.