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Tag: Immigration

  • Nigeria Immigration Service and Hire Purchase Passports – By Michael Owhoko

    Nigeria Immigration Service and Hire Purchase Passports – By Michael Owhoko

    By Michael Owhoko, Ph.D

    With a thriving and fertile environment for extortion and racketeering, process for obtaining the Nigerian passport has turned the booklet into a hire purchase document where applicants pay official cost at point of application, connoting preliminary downpayment, and thereafter compelled to pay a bribe as balance in installments or in full, depending on the deal reached with Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) officials involved in this underhand deed.  This is the practice nationwide.

    Applicants who fail to comply with this process risk delayed services characterized by uncertainty, except for Very Important Persons (VIP) and those with direct contact with top officials of NIS who enjoy some level of waivers exempting them from any form of bargains.  Despite this, a balance sum is made as gift at the end of the exercise to the facilitating official in appreciation, but at the discretion of the applicant.

    Sadly, some of these NIS officials have also extended these unethical practices to foreigners and the country’s missions abroad.  As a government agency providing direct services to foreigners, NIS is the face of Nigeria.  How it carries out its activities and obligations rub off on the country’s image with implications on public perception.  Its conduct can be used to gauge corruption in the course of passport, visa, work permit and expatriate quota issuance.

    The hire purchase process is embodied in two recognized methods of application, namely, online and physical through NIS official.  In the online, applicants are required to apply through dedicated portal on the internet where payment is made and appointment date assigned for biometric capture.  Fixed date for collection is not known, and applicants need not contact NIS officials prior to application.  

    But applications through NIS officials are directly handled and facilitated by a contracted official who superintends over the process.  Based on the agreed sum, payment is made inclusive of official cost, and thereafter, dates for biometrics capture and collection are given to the applicants.   Processing time through this method is short and definite.  This is the preferred choice for NIS officials due to attractive illicit returns.   

    Unfortunately, while the online method is officially and openly canvassed as the appropriate channel, it is softly and covertly discouraged by unscrupulous NIS officials owing to inducement constraints.  Once these NIS officials are aware you have applied online, you are treated like a leprosy patient to be avoided. You may not even get a response for a simple enquiry relating to collection date.  Sarcastically, they ask you to go back to the internet to get a date.  This is done to discourage applicants from applying online.  

    At any passport office, online applicants are subjected to indecent conditions, including standing in scorching sun almost all day, and drenched in a state of uncertainty.  In some instances, they are crammed into small office spaces, either waiting for biometrics capture or collection of passports or making enquiries for collection date.  Sometimes, they go through this process next day with no definite assurances.  

    Persons applying through NIS officials are not subjected to these depressing conditions.  They are given special treatment which enables them to reduce their waiting time either for biometrics or other formalities.  Their transaction timelines are guaranteed.  Once their passports are ready, they are contacted by the handling official for collection. 

    Kickback charged by NIS officials for direct applicants is contingent upon delivery time, whether for fresh passport application or renewal, and this ranges between N30,000 and N60,000, depending on negotiation.  However, any frustrated online applicant may also speak to any NIS official for intervention to facilitate the process, but this requires a bribe of not less than N20,000 or higher, depending on compromise. 

    Despite being fraught with corruption, the public is still advised to apply online to avoid touts, as asserted by the acting Comptroller General of NIS, Caroline Wura-Ola Adepoju on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily.  According to her, “our applications are available online and we are trying to sensitise our applicants that they should go online for these applications to avoid patronising touts”, assuring that “for a fresh application, it takes six weeks to get the passport ready, while it takes three weeks for renewal”.

    This declaration is at variance with realities at all NIS passport offices.  It is either Caroline Wura-Ola Adepoju is feigning ignorance or lack the courage to admit prevailing anomalies.  Having risen from the ranks to become Controller General, she cannot deny knowledge of unethical practices in the system and the plight of online applicants.  Touts operate within the precinct of NIS, and mostly, in collaboration with some NIS officials. Besides, passports are not ready in weeks as current minimum waiting period is two months, just as online applicants are still required to visit the offices for biometric capture despite automated process.  

    The cost for a 64-page passport with a 10-year validity period is N70,000 while same page with five years period goes for N35,000, just as a 32-page passport with a five-year validity period costs N25,000.  Officially, NIS says applicants are not required to pay any other fee outside these costs, but in practice, it is not true, as actual costs are padded.   

    Nigerians in diaspora and foreigners living in Nigeria alike are not spared the agonies inflicted by crooked NIS officials.  These are manifested when travelling through the country’s international airports where these NIS officials brazenly solicit for alms in hush tones from travelers without mindful of existential damage to the country’s image.  

    At the country’s missions abroad, NIS methods of service delivery are poor and do not conform with international best practices as obtain in advanced economies.  Despite the presence of NIS officials in those foreign territories, they ignore enculturation of prevailing work ethics and civility of their host nations, preferring to hold on to the Nigerian factor where Nigerians in diaspora are subjected to undignified manners in the course of passport issuance. 

    Renewing or obtaining fresh passports abroad by Nigerians is a nightmare.  Most of these applicants travel long distances either by road or air to get to Nigerian Embassies or High Commissions.  Yet, upon arrival, they are confronted with cold reception and unruly behaviour with a mentality of doing these applicants a favour, resulting in low morale of many Nigerians in diaspora.

    I recalled a friend who narrated his experience in the hands of NIS officials in Nigerian Embassy in New York City (NYC) where he had gone to renew his Nigerian passport after flying for over five hours by air from Portland.  On arrival at the Embassy, NIS officials were reluctant to attend to him, not because they were busy, but hiding under cover of arrogance and laziness.  He had to practically beg them before he could be attended to, and thereafter given a date for receipt of his passport, a development connoting a hangover of the Nigerian mentality.  Others are not as lucky as he was.

    From Ottawa, Canada to Atlanta and Washington D.C., USA to Bern, Switzerland to London, England to Madrid, Spain to Brasilia, Brazil to Berlin, Germany and to Johannesburg, South Africa, the story of ineptitude, poor work ethics, lack of professionalism, poor service delivery and recalcitrant disposition are the same, leading to stress, trauma and humiliation of applicants.  

    As a result of these glitches and contradictions in the operations of NIS, the agency conjures image of graft and ineptitude, just as the uniform constantly reminds the public of existing ethical gaps in the system. While these are symptoms of larger dislocations in the Nigerian system, the greed of some of these NIS officials who take delight in sabotaging the system for selfish gains, should be curbed, failing which, means NIS has been compromised beyond redemption.

    It will do the country no good if these greedy officials who have exposed NIS to profound ridicule, undermined and precluded the system from delivering a seamless process for all Nigerians are allowed to sustain their dubious acts of extortion.

    It is absurd for a country like Nigeria that is enmeshed with corruption toga to have a preferential service reserved for a category of Nigerians while others are subjected to ill-treatment.  It is therefore, imperative for the entire NIS system to be retooled for transparent, equitable, optimum and improved delivery capacity to save the country from a few elements who are bent on making corruption a lifestyle.  

     

    Dr. Mike Owhoko, Lagos-based journalist and author, can be reached at www.mikeowhoko.com

  • Immigration receives ultimatum to clear all outstanding passports

    Immigration receives ultimatum to clear all outstanding passports

    The Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has given the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) two weeks to clear the over 200,000 pending passport applications before it.

    The minister gave the order during a meeting with the Acting Comptroller-General of NIS, Caroline Adepoju, on Thursday in Abuja.

    The meeting was also attended by the Managing-Director, Iris Smart Technologies, Mr Yinka Fisher, the company in charge of the production of Nigerian passport booklets.

    The minister said that the order was in fulfillment of his promise to remove all bottlenecks in the acquisition of Nigerian passport and other immigration documents.

    “Delays in the processing and enrolment of passports in Nigeria has been a source of frustration for citizens, causing significant delays in obtaining crucial travel documents.

    “Having to deal with about 200,000 backlogs calls for national emergency.

    “As far as I am concerned, the issue of passport is a national emergency; I keep getting emails daily from Nigerians complaining. We cannot continue like this.

    “It has become an embarrassment to President Bola Tinubu. I represent him here as your minister.

    “That embarrassment is mine now. I am not changing my words. I need the backlog cleared in two weeks.”

    Tunji-Ojo said that he received updates on passport enrolments on a daily basis.

    “I get daily report on enrolment from NIS on my phone. This is my best way to be in the know of the situation. Nigerians deserve the best.

    “It is their right to own a passport if they can afford it.

    “We will also ensure that our debts are cleared by November. My position remains that the delay in the process of obtaining the passport must end,” he stressed.

    In their remarks, Adepoju and Fisher, assured the minister that all necessary resources and measures would be deployed to clear the backlog of passport applications.

    Adepoju disclosed that though the number of enrolment as of Thursday morning spills into 200,000 across the country, the NIS has secured enough booklets to clear the backlog.

    Meanwhile, the Minister has held strategic meeting with the Controller-General of the Federal Fire Service (FFS), Abdulganiyu Jaji, that of Nigeria Correctional Service (NCOs), Haliru Nababa, and the Commandant-General, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Ahmed Audi.

    He directed them to within four weeks, come up with a practical and executable roadmap that entails timelines, approaches, deliverables, and methodology.

  • Why delays in passport issuances – Immigration

    Why delays in passport issuances – Immigration

    The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has blamed discrepancies in National Identification Number (NIN) and the name filled in passport forms for delays in procuring passports beyond the recommended six weeks.

    The Comptroller of Immigration Service, Enugu Command, Mrs Azuka Halliday, disclosed this during the event marking NIS 60th anniversary celebrations in Enugu on Sunday.

    She said that when the name in applicants’ NIN document did not match the name in their passport forms, it delayed the time of delivery of their passports beyond the recommended six weeks.

    Halliday, therefore, advised Nigerians to use the NIS online platform for passports applications to avoid complications including delays that might arise from using a third party platform.

    She said that if the applicants faced issues other than the NIN/passport form name discrepancy, her office would be more open to attend to them quickly.

    She said at 60, NIS had delivered its core mandate which included, Issuance of passports and other traveling documents, Border Surveillance and Patrol, Enforcement of laws and Regulations and others to Nigerians.

    On the National Migration Policy, Halliday said Nigeria adopted it in 2015 to ensure that the country got optimum development from international migration.

    She said Nigeria contributed a substantial percentage to global migration as a major country of origin, transit and destination in terms of global migration.

    “For effective implementation of the global migration policy, NIS is now saddled with the role of border management, ensuring national border security, seamless regular migration and economic development of the country.

    “NIS has developed a streamline building programmes for its workforce nationally that would ensure proactive, effective and efficient service delivery as well as introduction of modern technology to enhance its operations.

    “All these innovation is to keep our borders safe,” she explained.

    Mr Okey Ezugwu, a retired NIS staff who delivered the anniversary lecture,  described Nigeria’s Immigration Law as the most liberal in the world because of its friendly nature.

    “If one runs foul of our laws, we do not really go for a kill as the person being punished may not understand why he is being punished.

    “I am not saying that our immigration laws should be reviewed but I am saying from our own background, that we are hospitable and we don’t ill-treat foreigners”, he said.

    He called for a review of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) policy that allowed citizens of member countries freedom to enter any ECOWAS country without Visas.

    Ezugwu, who retired as an Assistant Comptroller of Immigration, said the freedom was being abused as many Nigerians did not see themselves as strangers in Nigeria.

    “Another area that need to be looked into is the Free Trade Zone policy where people in it were not subject to immigration regulations,” he said.

    Ezugwu, said that Immigration, at 60, had done so much in its core mandates as well as in the promotion of tourism and investment in the country.

    The event was attended by the various security agencies and Heads of Government Agencies, as well as other individuals in the state.

  • Passport reforms: Nigeria Immigration redeploys 15 comptrollers

    Passport reforms: Nigeria Immigration redeploys 15 comptrollers

    The acting Comptroller General, Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) Mrs Caroline Adepoju has approved the immediate reposting of 15 passport officers in a bid to strengthen the ongoing passport reform process.

    This is contained in a statement issued by the Acting Public Relations Officer, Assistant Comptroller of Immigration, Kenneth Kure on Thursday in Abuja.

    Adepoju said that the NIS management was determined to upgrade the Passport administration both at home and in the foreign missions.

    She assured that the service would not go back on its avowed position to make passport offices across board to be purely Service oriented.

    She named some of the affected passport offices as Alausa and Festac both in Lagos, as well as the ones in Edo, Anambra, Bayelsa, Kogi, Nassarawa, Plateau, Enugu, Abia, Kano, Taraba and Ondo, among others.

    The acting CG maintained that only the best brains who have fully adopted the mantra of Service above self, would henceforth be posted to sensitive places.

    “This is so because our people deserve nothing short of the best, ” she said.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the posting order was signed by the Deputy Comptroller General (DCG), incharge of Human Resources, Mr Usman Babangida.

  • EU, Tunisia sign deal to fight illegal migration

    EU, Tunisia sign deal to fight illegal migration

    European Union wishes to negotiate with Egypt and Morocco partnerships similar to the one it has just concluded with Tunisia, relating in particular to the fight against irregular immigration, a European source said on Monday.

    The EU and Tunisia signed a memorandum of understanding in Tunis on Sunday for a “comprehensive strategic partnership”, which also concerns the country’s economic development and renewable energies.

    On the migratory aspect, it provides for European aid of 105 million euros intended to prevent the departure of migrant boats to the EU from the Tunisian coasts and to fight against smugglers. But also to facilitate the return to this country of Tunisians who are in an irregular situation in the EU, as well as the return from Tunisia to their countries of origin of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa.

    European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she wanted the partnership to be a model for future agreements with countries in the region.

    Egypt and Morocco are two countries that could be affected, said a senior European official speaking on condition of anonymity, stressing the benefits of this type of partnership for both sides of the Mediterranean.

    But this agreement with Tunis has also drawn criticism because of the treatment of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa by the authorities of this Maghreb country.

    Hundreds of migrants were arrested in Tunisia and then “deported”, according to NGOs, to inhospitable areas on the borders with Algeria and Libya. Women and children are abandoned in the middle of the desert without water, food or shelter, according to testimonies collected by telephone by the media and videos sent to NGOs in Tunisia.

    It is “not about signing a check” to the Tunisian authorities, stressed the European official, indicating that the agreement provided for a series of contracts with different actors, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR, and the International Organisation for Migration, IOM.

    The memorandum of understanding concluded on Sunday between the EU and Tunisia, in the presence of Ursula von der Leyen, President Kais Saied, but also Italian heads of government Giorgia Meloni and Dutch Mark Rutte, will have to be approved by all. of EU member states.

    While European countries like Italy wanted to be able to send migrants back to Tunisia who had simply transited through that country, Tunis has made it clear that it does not want “to be a country of settlement for irregular migrants”. The agreement therefore only covers the return of Tunisian nationals who are in an irregular situation in the EU.

    The protocol signed plans to devote 15 million euros – out of the 105 million – to the “voluntary” return of some 6,000 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa from Tunisia to their countries of origin.

    In addition, the EU intends to deliver to the Tunisian coastal authorities eight boats for search and rescue operations and drones.

  • Titan and migrants: Two tragedies, different stories – By Azu Ishiekwene

    Titan and migrants: Two tragedies, different stories – By Azu Ishiekwene

    It doesn’t make sense to weigh tragedies on a scale. How do you measure them? Leo Tolstoy got it right in Anna Karenina when he said whereas all happy families are alike, every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.

    And so indeed it was on June 14 when it was reported that a boat carrying 750 migrants had capsized near Greece in the Mediterranean killing over 500 with dozens missing. 

    It was one of the most horrific tragedies in recent times, claiming the lives of hundreds of migrants mostly from Pakistan, Syria, Egypt, Afghanistan and Palestine who put their lives in great danger in pursuit of the basic human instinct of looking for a better life.

    A world becoming tragically familiar with migrant misery barely had time to shake its head in pity once again when news broke that a submarine, The Titan, operated by a US-based company, OceanGate, had imploded in the depths killing all five tourists on an expedition to the debris of the Titanic.

    Two heart-wrenching tragedies in a space of days and yet the major global news networks could not resist reporting the tragedies on a scale of prejudice that barely disguised where their sympathy lies. 

    The concerned world also rallied a multinational rescue mission for The Titan sparing neither expense nor expertise. The press provided minute-by-minute accounts of the efforts, looking for experts from around the world who had made similar missions in the past. Others got families of some of those on board to share their fears and hopes. 

    How, for example, could anyone not be touched by the story of Suleman Dawood, the 19-year-old student who followed his millionaire father, Shazada, on that expedition to honour his Father’s Day wish? We were touched because the press shined a light on the human angle.

    Who knows how many such stories among the hundreds of the families of the dead migrants have now gone untold? Interestingly, the Dawoods whose tragic story is still travelling the world, shared a similar Pakistani heritage with some migrants whose own stories will never be heard. 

    As the search went on, the horrific deaths of the migrants in the Mediterranean fizzled from news flashes to scrolls of ticker tape and soon disappeared altogether.

    From the way the networks covered the two accidents, you would be forgiven to think that they had weighed both and concluded that the lives of the 750 migrants mattered less, if they mattered at all. It was not an issue that the number of migrants who died in the Mediterranean on June 14 was over one-third of the fatality when RMS Titanic struck an iceberg on its maiden voyage in 1912.

    Somehow, the unspoken message was that the migrants deserved their fate. What else did they want from Europe or the rest of the world? After all, in the last eight years or so, and long before the Russia-Ukraine war complicated things, Europe had opened its borders to an estimated 1.5 million migrant refugees. Yet, in spite of tighter border controls, controversial repatriations and deportations, the wave of migrants has been unrelenting.

    Governments in Europe, especially in Italy and Greece, that spent years sleepwalking over a comprehensive plan to manage the migrant crisis have used rising domestic economic difficulties and the upsurge in right-wing groups in their countries as excuses for cracking down on migrants, sometimes, with the most cynical sea-border policing.

    Since no deterrent appears to have worked so far (not unsanitary conditions, severe overcrowding, poor food and water quality, torture by guards or even reinforced barbed wires), the networks may well have deployed their own – a new set of filtering tools to cover the Mediterranean tragedy: downgrade the story if you can’t help it, otherwise turn a blind eye. 

    Of course, it’s not the fault of the five victims who died in The Titan; it’s the fault of a system that treats people less than who they are because of where they are from, their skin colour – or let’s be honest – because of their economic conditions. 

    It’s improbable that if the migrant boat were some ocean liner on a summer cruise of the Mediterranean an accident involving 750 passengers out of which 500 have been confirmed dead would be given the same shorthand coverage.

    The double-standard between the wall-to-wall coverage of the implosion of The Titan and the short shrift that the deaths of over 500 migrants received at the hands of the global networks reecho the Shakespearean line about beggars, comets and the deaths of princes. Only that Shakespeare could not have seen that modern networks could sometimes make comets for their own princes.

    The hypocritical coverage of both tragic incidents barely hides the fact that even though the deaths touched each affected family in a different way, the material condition of the dead was also a factor in how the tragedies were reported.

    Former US President Barack Obama, perhaps one of the world’s most famous modern victims of right-wing calumny, called out the stark contrast, describing it as “obscene” and “untenable.” It’s an obscenity with a long history, one which in 1977 compelled UNESCO to set up the Sean MacBride Commission on North-South communication lopsidedness. 

    On September 26, 2002, for example, an overcrowded Gambia-bound Senegalese ferry, Le Joola, hit a serious storm at night, killing 1,800 passengers, including the sister and 10 other relatives of the current coach of the Senegalese national football team, Aliou Cisse. Only 64 passengers survived. Cisse was saved on that day by a match for Birmingham City. It was a monumental tragedy, claiming more lives than were lost in RMS Titanic.

    But that catastrophic event remained largely unreported then and remains, to date, one of the world’s most famous unlisted calamities on the global calendar. Only a BBC Africa documentary produced last year, on the 20th anniversary of the disaster and the pillars of the victims’ empty graves, remind us there was such a human tragedy!

    This double-standard sometimes plays out in how help is deployed, after a humanitarian disaster. When the US sent help to Nigeria after catastrophic floods claimed over 600 lives last year, for example, it sent money – $1 million. When a devastating wildfire impacted New South Wales in Australia in late 2019, on the other hand, the US sent hundreds of firefighters. Sadly, three of them died helping.

    To be fair, we can’t blame foreign countries or the major networks forever. If these countries and their networks are hostages to blinkered lenses in understanding and telling our story, journalists in the global south, including Africa, must also invest in telling their own stories themselves. 

    And that does not have to be only when tragedies happen. Otherwise, neither tragedies nor heart-warming stories would have the touch, which as Tolstoy said, connects to us as humans in their own different, intimate ways.

     

    Ishiekwene is Editor-In-Chief of LEADERSHIP

  • NIS promotes 7,000 personnel, redeploys 12 comptrollers

    NIS promotes 7,000 personnel, redeploys 12 comptrollers

    The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), has promoted 7,000 of its personnel to their new ranks.

    This is contained in a statement by the Service Public Relations Officer, Mr Kenneth Kure, on Wednesday in Abuja.

    Kure said that the promotions are contained in a letter signed by the Secretary of the Immigration, Civil Defense, Correctional and Fire Service Board (CDCFIB), Alhaji Jafaru Ahmed.

    Kure, himself promoted to Assistant Comptroller, said the personnel comprised senior officers who passed regular examinations and junior staff upgraded for acquiring additional qualifications.

    He also said the acting Comptroller-General of Immigration Service (CGIS), Adepoju Wuro-Ola, had approved the appointment of Mr Tony Akuneme, as Comptroller, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Command, while Comptroller Joseph Dada becomes the new Principal Staff Officer to the acting Comptroller-General.

    “Mr Dada, a graduate of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, has served in various commands in the NIS and was until his recent appointment, the Comptroller in-charge of Marine Border Corps in the Service Headquarters.

    “It will be recalled that 12 Comptrollers were recently redeployed to different states, including FCT, Kano, Jigawa, Ondo, Ogun, and Mfum Border Control, among others,” the spokesman said.

    Addressing officers and men of the Service during a monthly parade, Kure said, the acting CGIS charged them to put the image of the job above personal interests.

    He quoted Adepoju as saying that NIS is one of the most noble institutions and the first agency that any visitor to Nigeria would meet upon arrival.

    According to the spokesman, Adepoju  promised to prioritise personnel welfare and vowed that promotion would be strictly based on seniority.

    “It is disheartening to see senior officers stagnated and their juniors elevated over them.

    “Any staff who is not well motivated cannot guarantee quality output.”

  • Immigration gives update on uncollected passports nationwide

    Immigration gives update on uncollected passports nationwide

    The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) says about 97,000 passport booklets issued were uncollected in the 36 states nationwide including Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

    The Service Public Relations Officer, (SPRO) Comptroller of Immigration, Mr Tony Akuneme said this in an interview with NAN on Friday in Abuja.

    Akuneme said that the service recently found out that Lagos State had half of the uncollected passports.

    He said that there was also a danger that half of the owners of the uncollected passports could not be reached due to lack of proper documentation because of a third party involvement.

    He also said that the essence of state of emergency declaration was to draw attention of the media so they could deepened the process for the service as alot of people do not know if their passport were ready for collection.

    “Some of them engaged agents to help them in their passport processing and these agents might be doing for alot of persons.

    “They end up dropping wrong contacts and thereby making it difficult to reach out to the owners of these passports when they are ready for collection. This is a big challenge, “he said.

    The Acting Comptroller General, NIS, Mrs Caroline Adepoju had recently declared state of emergency on passport issues across the country.

    The SPRO said that the service recently found out that most applicants complains also bothers on some human factor and technical factor which included slow speed of Internet.

    According to him, the CG didn’t want to leave anyone in doubt as to the issue of passport processing being her core area of interest.

    “That’s how she came about that term of declaring state of emergency in the passport issues.

    “When the acting CG assumed office, she made it very clear that she was going to focus on Passport reforms and staff welfare, “he said.

    According to him, the Lagos state Governor is willing to collaborate with the CG in terms of expanding the Passport services on Lagos State.

    “So, we went to Lagos State Governor to help in terms of giving us office space where we can set up front desk offices and immediately, the governor was very positive in his response

    ” Lagos is a tourism place and immigration have a key role to play in the mind of anybody visiting the state.

    “So it was a welcome development and you can see that the state of emergency that was declared is already yielding fruits as the governor accepted CGs request on land allocation to build staff quarters in Lagos, “he said.

    Akuneme said that the service however, needed the Media to tell Nigerians that people should not think there were no passport booklets.

    He said “there are booklets issued that are not collected. It is ironical, we don’t have problem of booklet, we don’t have shortage of booklets.

    “What we have had in the last one or two years is a sudden upsurge in the number of Nigerians wanting to travel . We felt it was also related to COVID-19, “he said.

    Akuneme assured that the result would be instant as more facilities were going to be put in place to curtail any challenges of passport issuance across the country.

  • Canada announces new immigration measures to strengthen family reunification

    Canada announces new immigration measures to strengthen family reunification

    The Canadian government has  announced a new measure to speed up the approval of family reunification applications, after the UK government banned students from Nigeria and other foreign countries on study visas from bringing their families into the country.

    Announcing the development, Canadian immigration minister, Sean Fraser explained that the new measures were put in place to strengthen family reunification in Canada.

    The Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, joined by the Honourable Hedy Fry, Member of Parliament for Vancouver Centre, said  the new measures is  to strengthen family reunification, including faster temporary resident visa (TRV) processing times for spousal applicants new and dedicated processing tools for spousal TRV applicants.

    He also  announced faster temporary resident visa (TRV) processing and more considerate application measures so that families can be together sooner while they wait for their permanent residence to be finalized. Going forward, most of these applications will be processed within 30 days, and applicants will benefit from processing measures specific to their circumstances as spouses and dependants. Many applications have already been processed using these new tools. Within this cohort of applicants, we have seen an approval rate of 93%.

    Once in Canada, newcomers often seek jobs to support themselves and their families. That is why Canada has also made open work permits available for spousal applicants and their dependent children who reside with their sponsor in Canada and have temporary resident status. Spouses, partners and dependants are now able to apply for and receive an open work permit as soon as they submit a complete permanent residence application under the spouse or common-law partner in Canada class (SPCLC) or other family class programs.

    Fraser further announced that spousal applicants, along with other open work permit holders, whose open work permits expire between August 1 and the end of 2023, will be able to extend their work permits for an additional 18 months. A similar option was recently offered to many with expiring post-graduation work permits.

    “Family reunification through immigration is not only a matter of compassion; it is a fundamental pillar of Canadian society. Today’s announcement is a mandate commitment to help build inclusive and resilient communities. We are supporting Canadians and newcomers by reuniting families faster, and also allowing them to work and support themselves more quickly once they’re here. By doing so, Canada is helping newcomers achieve their true potential, while also strengthening Canada’s economy and social fabric.”

    The Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship stressed that: “Family reunification lies at the heart of building vibrant and inclusive communities. In Vancouver, we know that when families are united, they become stable, put down roots and begin to build a future. Our city thrives. This unwavering commitment to bringing loved ones together fuels our collective spirit and enriches the tapestry of our diverse neighbourhoods.

    “Today’s emphasis on family reunification amplifies Vancouver’s strength, resilience, and compassion as we create a city where every individual feels a sense of belonging, and every family can flourish.”

    Recall that the British government banned foreign students including Nigerians from bringing family members to the country as a part of the new plan to cut immigration numbers.

  • Passport: 80 officers on trial for extortion, 8 others dismissed – Immigration

    Passport: 80 officers on trial for extortion, 8 others dismissed – Immigration

    No fewer than 80 officers and men of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) have gone on trial for indulging in collection of illegal fees for the issuance of new passports and renewal of old ones.

    The Service Public Relations Officer (SPRO), Comptroller of Immigration, Mr. Tony Akuneme, who disclosed this in an interview with NAN on Sunday in Abuja, also indicated that eight other officers have been dismissed from service for the same offence in the last one year.

    He said the disciplinary measures under the passport reform, was part of the three-point agenda of the present Comptroller General (CG), NIS, Isah Jere, when he came on board.

    Akuneme also said that the CG’s three-point agenda includes reform passport issuance, tightening border security and improving the welfare of NIS officers.

    According to him, Jere has done this to the best of his ability in the last one year plus, and that is what has led to most applicants booking online for passports.

    “We have tried as much as possible to eliminate third parties so that if you really want, you can process the application of your passport from the comfort of your room on your laptop, android phones and you can pay online.

    “You don’t really need anybody whether immigration officers or agents which we usually call touts. They have upgraded and become agents. They are still third parties.

    “The problem we have is the use of third parties because no matter how much reform you put in, you will always see a learned and civilised person using a third party to process his or her application.

    “And one thing they don’t understand is that third parties don’t have an idea of the information entered into your application. This can result in somebody having issues with his/her National Identification Number (NIN),” he said.

    The NIS spokesman said that the CG has vowed to discipline officers who go out of their way to try to either engage or sabotage the reform process.

    “We have continued to punish NIS officer and men who try to assist people for a fee. You can assist people genuinely but not extorting from them.

    “We are committed to curbing corruption and other illicit acts in the service. You will appreciate the fact that if nothing else, the level of awareness has increased in the last few months.

    “Don’t patronise agents, fill your forms yourself. We have officers watching and these agents know they are being watched. When they take money from you, tell us. If we don’t take action, tell the world,” he said.