Nigeria unveils new visa policy to attract foreign talent

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has signed off on a new visa policy which he claims will attract innovation, specialised skills and expertise from abroad. 

The new policy will see visas supplied on arrival for holders of passports of African Union countries on short visits. 

Visas will now also be sorted into 79 categories, which the government says is to ensure that “visas are more efficiently matched to the purpose of travel, thus helping improve the efficiency of processing and response”.

The government has also unveiled a new biometric visa database, which is capable of conducting background checks against Interpol watchlists. 

President Buhari first announced the policy while in Egypt in November of last year. He described it as a “strategic decision to bring down barriers that have hindered the free movement of our people within the continent”.

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