Immigration & Visa FAQ

Visa on arrival is available for short business visits, frequent travellers and emergencies, but it is not a walk-up service. A Nigerian-based host applies for a pre-approval letter through portal.immigration.gov.ng. The traveller carries that letter to the airport, pays the visa fee on arrival and is stamped in. Eligible nationalities and travel purposes are listed on the official Nigerian Immigration Service website.

CERPAC stands for Combined Expatriate Residence Permit and Aliens Card. It is the document foreign nationals living and working in Nigeria carry to prove residence. Most expatriates hold a Green Card CERPAC issued after an STR visa is regularised inside Nigeria. CERPAC is renewed every year, and the fee is set in US dollars even when paid through a Nigerian bank.

Standard short-stay visas through the e-visa and Nigerian mission flows usually take a few working days once supporting documents are complete. STR and TWP visas take longer because they involve clearance with the issuing mission and the NIS in Abuja. Sensitive applications, prior overstay or document gaps push the timeline out, so plan for a buffer before travel.

An e-visa is issued before travel, after an online application on portal.immigration.gov.ng, with a digital approval that you carry. Visa on arrival is issued at the airport against a pre-approval letter that a Nigerian host applies for in advance. Both end with an entry stamp, but e-visa is the safer route because you know your visa is approved before booking the flight.

Payment pending usually means the bank charged your card but the immigration portal has not yet received the confirmation. Do not retry until you have checked your bank statement for an actual debit and given the portal at least 24 hours. If money was debited and the status does not clear, raise a ticket on the portal with your transaction reference and bank statement, and avoid making a second payment in the meantime.

There is no formal appeal channel, but you can re-apply after addressing the reason for rejection. Most rejections cite insufficient supporting documents, suspected misrepresentation, prior overstay or an unverified host. Look at the reviewer's note, fix the underlying gap with concrete evidence, and submit a clean new application. A second application with the same documents will almost always be refused again.

No. Nigerians can enter most ECOWAS countries visa-free with a Nigerian passport or an ECOWAS travel certificate for up to 90 days. The ECOWAS travel certificate is a smaller booklet issued by the NIS, used mainly by people who travel only within the region. Border practice still varies country to country, so carry a passport-photograph and yellow card alongside.

STR is a visa that lets a foreign worker enter Nigeria to take up employment. After arrival, the employer files for regularisation, and the worker is issued CERPAC for residence. TWP is for short-term assignments and does not normally lead to CERPAC. The order matters: you do not apply for CERPAC directly from outside Nigeria, and an STR worker who skips regularisation will struggle to renew.

No. NigeriaHowTo is independent and never collects passports, payment, biometrics or invitation letters. Every Nigerian visa application is completed through portal.immigration.gov.ng or at a Nigerian mission abroad. Anyone who messages claiming to be us and offering to 'process' your visa is not us, and is not authorised by the NIS.