Investigations have shown that Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom are among the countries that charge the most expensive visa fees. This is compounded by the long bureaucratic tapes and multiple scrutiny that applicants face in the hands of their consular and security agencies.
US citizens pay as much as $270 for a single-entry visa while they are charged $160 for consular services, another $100 for administration, and $10 for processing.
According to data from the Nigeria Immigration Services (NIS), Nigeria charges nationals of Bangladesh $253 for visa application, Belize $200; Chile $200; India $253; Indonesia $245; Ireland $170; Israel $169; UAE $150; South Africa $58; United Kingdom $144; China $64, and Malaysia $86.
Nigeria is certainly not a high-end tourist destination, but the NIS data indicates that foreigners are trooping into the country. A total of 114,958 different classes of visas were issued in 2017 alone. Nigerian missions in the US, UK and China recorded the highest number of visas issued.
Observers say the high rate of the influx of Chinese national may be connected to the numerous capital projects which they are executing in Nigeria.
UK-London led with 15,304 followed by USA-Washington DC with 15,120 visas issued. China-Beijing had 14,314; South-Africa – Pretoria, 10,047; Johannesburg 5,346; Berlin-Germany 5,454; Paris-France 5,383; Stockholm-Sweden 3,711; The Hague-Netherlands 4,984; and Berne-Switzerland 1,841.
