The federal government has announced a new policy targeting visa overstayers, introducing strict penalties including daily fines and re-entry bans as part of sweeping immigration reforms.
Minister of Interior Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo unveiled the measures during a stakeholders’ meeting on Friday, April 11, at NECA House in Lagos, focusing on updates to the Nigeria Visa Policy 2025 and expatriate quota regulations.
Under the new rules, which take effect in May 2025, foreign nationals who overstay their visas will face a $15 daily fine. However, enforcement will begin in August following a three-month grace period intended to allow overstayers to regularise their status or make necessary travel arrangements.
“From first of August, anybody that does not take advantage of the amnesty period of three months, penalty will come,” Tunji-Ojo said. “But if you take advantage of that window to regularise, we will not charge you. Because the whole idea is not to punish you, the whole idea is for us to regularise.”
He warned that foreign nationals who overstay their visas by more than three months will be banned from re-entering Nigeria for five years. Those who remain illegally in the country for over a year without rectifying their status during the amnesty period will face a lifetime ban.
“From first of August, if you [overstay], it’s $15 per day and if you have stayed more than three months, five years, abeg we don’t need violators in Nigeria,” he added. “And if you have stayed more than one year without coming forward during the amnesty period, abeg don’t come to Nigeria again for life.”
In addition to these visa measures, the minister announced the full digitalization of the Combined Expatriate Residence Permit and Aliens Card (CERPAC) process, scheduled to go live on May 1. The move aims to modernize the application system, eliminating manual forms and allowing applicants to complete and pay for the process online via the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) website.
“We are automating it end to end. Because as it is today, the procedure is that you have to go to buy a form. When you buy a form, you pay at the bank, and take the form to CERPAC centre. There’s no country in the world that does that,” Tunji-Ojo said.
He stressed that applicants with criminal records should not apply, warning that the new system will be integrated with global security databases including Interpol. “This place is not safe for you. Go back,” he said.
The minister further noted that employers will now be held accountable for the immigration status of their foreign employees, in line with global best practices. “By our laws, we are going to be holding employers responsible from the foundations. It’s the way it’s done all over the world,” he said.
Tunji-Ojo emphasized that the reforms reflect a broader commitment to sanitizing the immigration system and aligning Nigeria’s policies with international standards.