The United Arab Emirates (UAE) immigration authorities have announced a ban on visa applications from Nigerians.
In a notice issued on Friday, October 21, to its trade partners in Nigeria, including travel agents, the country’s authorities said that “all Dubai applications submitted are now rejected.”
The UAE government further noted that rejection notices would be sent in batches to applicants.
It said that the rejections “are general for Nigerians and approvals are on hold at the moment”, according to The Punch.
Although no reason was given for the ban, the UAE government declared that all applications would be on-hold until issues between it and the Nigerian government were resolved.
The notice reads, “Kindly advise your clients to resubmit applications when the issue is resolved between both governments.”
The development comes over a month after the UAE stopped issuing tourist visas to persons under the age of 40, affecting Nigerians as well as other countries.
The federal government, while speaking on the issue, said that Nigerians need to respect the immigration laws of other countries to avoid “unwarranted treatment.”
The ministry of foreign affairs, in a statement, said that, “The general public is invited to note and be guided that the government of the UAE has introduced a new visa regime and has stopped issuing tourist visas to persons under the age of 40 years, except for those applying for family visas.
“It is, therefore, instructive for prospective visa applicants to indicate clearly their visa preferences without any ambiguity and also respect the immigration laws of other countries to avoid unwarranted treatments.”
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