A large percentage of Nigerians have a dream to travel out of the country at least once in their lifetime. Some choose to travel due to the poor economic situation in the country, some for tourism and sight-seeing purposes and some others for education or business.
The high number of people trying to jet out of the country has made it quite difficult for people to secure visas. Many Nigerians are being refused visas and the opportunity to travel out on a daily basis. But regardless, many Nigerians still travel out regularly. To travel out of Nigeria, this is what you need to do;
Secure an international passport
If you do not have one yet, you have to visit the office of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) closest to you to apply for one. The official price for a 32-page regular e-passport is N17,600 but you might find out that you would have to pay up to N28,000 in some state offices in order to ‘fast track’ the process.
Remember to go with your Government issued I.D card, Local Government of Origin Certificate and a Birth Certificate or Sworn Affidavit at the Federal High Court declaring your age. If you have a passport already, ensure that it would remain valid for at least 6 months from your intended travel date.
Decide on the purpose of your visit
Before you start your visa application, it is important to know why you want to travel in order to know the category of visa to apply for. You can choose to travel for tourism, business, education, medical reasons, conjugal reasons or a visit to a family or a friend. If you qualify for a USA or other country’s passport, it is a good investment to complete the USPS passport application or etc. as many other countries have fewer visa requirements. This is important to note for your luggage as well, will you need to pack compact binoculars if you are going sightseeing, warm clothes if it is cool there, etc…
Choose a country to visit
The next step is to decide on the country you would like to visit. Some countries do not require you to obtain a visa before you can visit (Click here to see their list). Such countries include Cameroun, Kenya, Ivory Coast, Mauritius, Tanzania, Republic of Benin, Seychelles, Barbados, Iran, Fiji and several others. Most of these countries would only require that you obtain a visa on arrival which would last for a period of between 30 to 90 days.
Book a plane ticket
According to the travel blog called the Land of the traveler, if you choose a country that requires you to have a visa before you travel down, you would need to apply for a visa at the country’s Nigerian embassy. Some embassies would require you to have a return ticket as one of the requirements for applying for a visa. Some other countries do not necessarily require you to do this so ensure that you visit the embassy’s official website to find out what documents are needed to apply for a visa.
Hotel bookings
Next, you need accommodation. Immigration and visa officers would need to know where you would put up on arrival so make sure you have proof of hotel bookings or any other type of accommodation to show to them. Most reviewers usually have lots to say, so pay attention.
Apply for visa
Put together all the required documents for application and secure an interview date or document submission date. This is the date you would have to make an appearance at the embassy for an interview or for submission of your documents depending on the embassy’s modus operandi.
Once you have secured a visa, you are free to appear at the airport on the day you have scheduled to travel. You would be checked thoroughly at immigrations and customs officials both in Nigeria and the country you would be visiting so make sure you don’t go with any contrabands or anything that may stress or put you in trouble.